Bonds of the Heart
by MessiahofDar
Summary: Time never waits. It delivers all equally to the same end. You, who wish to safeguard the future, however limited it may be…You will be given one year; go forth without falter, with your heart as your guide… :
1. A New Life

_Bonds of the Heart_

Time never waits. It delivers all equally to the same end. You, who wish to safeguard the future, however limited it may be…You will be given one year; go forth without falter, with your heart as your guide…

* * *

Elsword - ?

Aisha – High Magician/Elemental Master

Rena – Combat Ranger/Wind Sneaker

* * *

The sounds of people were all around him; joy, laughter, happiness. All emotions that have long been devoid within his own life, since the incident ten years ago that had changed his life forever. Trudging through an endless crowd of people, a pair of headsets were strapped onto his ears, forcing his red messy hair to be plastered onto his forehead. His crimson-colored eyes stared blankly forward as he made his way onto the monorail, transferring to a new school for his tenth grade year.

* * *

Sitting in the bathroom, huddled in the corner, the sound of open tap water running from the rusty sink above her head, sat a purple-haired girl. She shook lightly, her knees up to her chest as she held a gun-like object in her hand. She slowly raised it, still trembling lightly.

* * *

Boarding the monorail, the red-haired boy merely stood up. His hand reached out for one of the poles that lay suspended in the air, connected to both the top and bottom of the monorail. The doors shut after another minute or so, the transportation vehicle shaking lightly as it started to move along. He turned on a song on his MP3 player, closing his eyes as the song started to play. _I will burn my dread. I once ran away from the god of fear. And he chained me to despair._

* * *

The purple-haired girl let out an almost whimper-like sound, still shaking, her hand fumbling with the gun-like object in her hand. The sound of the dripping water echoed in the background, making her squirm and flinch every few seconds, slowly resting the muzzle of the gun onto her head, her teeth sinking into her lip. A small drip of blood fell from the small wound she had inflicted onto herself, and she continued to shake, her dark violet irises wide.

* * *

_Burn my dread. I'll break the chain. And run till I see the sunlight again. I'll lift my face and run to the sunlight. _The song continued to play through the headphones, the male biding his time away as the monorail continued down its path, rocking from side to side slightly. Taking his chance to do so now, he took a window seat, looking at the window, the window showing a reflection of his crimson eyes.

* * *

The muzzle of the weapon remained on her head, still trembling lightly. She didn't know what to do or what she was doing. She didn't even know if she had the will to pull the trigger. Small tears formed in the corners of her eyes behind her hand lowered to her side, her hand having a small seizure, sobbing noises emitting from the purple-haired girl.

* * *

A small butterfly flew by the window, despite the speed of the monorail. An almost glittery trail stroke behind it, its elegant blue wings flapping lightly, the small creature stopping by the window of the red-haired boy, who did not pay any attention to it, still listening to his music, lost in his own blank thoughts. _Voiceless town tapping feet, I clench my fists in pockets tight, far in mist a tower awaits like a merciless tomb devouring moonlight. _ The butterfly flew off, vanishing into nothingness as the monorail passed into another tunnel.

* * *

Struggling to her feet, she stumbled lightly, tears still dropping from her half-lidded eyes. She threw the gun across the room, the silver-colored weapon colliding with the wall on the other side of the room. She staggered to the sink, placing her face under the running water, not aware of the small butterfly that had grazed its wings on the window, the blue streak of glitter vanishing as soon as it came, leaving the girl lost in her own thoughts.

* * *

The rest of the trip on the monorail was long and boring, the only form of entertainment he had was the music that he was listening to. After a few hours of pure nothingness, the monorail came to a complete stop, an almost eerie screeching sound emitting as metal fought against metal. The monorail lurched slightly, coming to a slow stop. He was the only passenger now, the others having already left at previous stops. Slowly standing up, the red-haired boy trudged over to the doors of the monorail, stepping outside once they opened. "You have now arrived at Iwatodai Station," a voice rang out, almost out of nowhere, but then he realized that it was an inner mechanism within the train.

He continued to walk forward, his hands tufted into his pockets. A clock was hung overhead, the long hand almost on the "12" as the smaller hand circled around the other numbers. _I will burn my dread. This time I'll grapple down that god of fear and throw-_The song suddenly stopped. The boy stopped walking, looking down at his MP3 Player. _What the hell? Did the batteries die or something? _Looking back at the clock overhead, he had noticed that both hands were locked at the "12" now. Eyes narrowing slightly, he proceeded to walk out of the station, not knowing what he would find outside.

The scenery outside shocked him for one particular reason or should he indicate a few. It was not beautiful or pretty, which was one of the main reasons as to why a particular scene would shock someone. It was downright horrifying in a way. It reminded him of the incident that had happened ten years ago when he had previously lived here, small images of the scene flickering in his mind or of what he could remember at least. He had lived her awhile ago but due to a car incident, he had lost both his parents and sister, Elsa. It was a miracle as to why he was the only one who survived, because he wished he hadn't.

A pale green color lightened up the sky. The moon was an eerie pale green, consuming the entire night sky in its full entirely. It was a half moon at the moment. The smell of blood reeked the air and random coffins erupted from the ground in various spots. The coffins were a greenish-brown, taller than him, and menacing. It was like a scene in a horror movie, where the killer had killed everyone else and was about to kill you as well.

He rummaged through his pocket, pulling out a small slip of paper. The paper had the directions to his new dorm and school, which would be helpful for him, since he would be here for the next year or so. Letting out a small sigh, he continued down the street, trying to ignore the creepiness of the situation as he tried to find his dorm.

Turning the corner, he strode up to his dorm, looking at the building. It was a four-story building, an average-looking building apart from the green color of the bricks as every other building in the area. Walking up the steps of the dorm, he lifted his hand to the door, but paused for a second before tapping it lightly against the door. Not hearing a response, he pulled the door knob and walked in, sliding his headphones down.

"You're late," an almost child-like voice emitted. The red-haired boy blinked in surprise, turning his head to see a pale-colored boy with black hair sitting behind the reception desk of the dorm. "I've been waiting a long time for you," the other boy stated. He was wearing a jailed suit or so it looked like that, the black and white stripes evident on his storm. He rose his fingers snapping them, instantly materializing in front of the red-haired boy. "Now, if you wish to proceed, please sign your name there. It's a contract. Don't worry; all that it says is that you'll accept the full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff," the creepy boy stated, waving his hand to the document placed on the reception table.

The red-haired boy, eyes wide, still said nothing. He turned slowly to the contract, seeing a place to sign his name. Picking up the feather pen, he dabbed the tip of it into the ink bottle, signing his name onto the contract, Elsword Zexon. The jail-suit boy took the contract from the reception desk, closing it and his eyes as well for a moment. "Nothing can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes," he started, bringing the contract fully up to his left eye before twisting it, the contract vanishing altogether. He lifted his hand, the entire room becoming dark, a small smile forming on his face. "And so, it begins…" vanishing as well, leaving the entire room in its eerie pale green color now.

The dorm, apart from the reception desk was divided into three parts. A few feet away from the reception desk was a small living room, three couches centered around a small table. A few feet upward from that was a television set and another division with a wall, a dining table set there. Two restrooms were adjacent to the reception table and a flight of stairs was beyond that.

Elsword stood there, dumbfounded. _What the hell just happened? What did I just sign and who was that…? _He raised a hand to his face, laughing gently to himself before a female voice rang out. "Who's there?" a voice rang out. Turning his head, Elsword looked at a purple-haired girl who was standing beside the television set. Her hand was outstretched and shaking over a small holster attached to her white-colored skirt, a gun inside. She trembled lightly, panting as sweat rolled down her face, her eyes wide as she looked at Elsword. Within an instant, her hand pressed against the gun and a small clicking sound emitted and she started to pull it out before another sound echoed behind her.

"Aisha, wait!" an almost cheery like voice emitted, making the purple-haired girl named Aisha instantly recoil her head to look back at the green-haired woman that had called her, a small smile forming on her face. On the top of the stairs was another girl, dressed in the same wear as Aisha, but the colors were green and she also had a holster attached to her skirt. The sudden eerie green color vanished from the dorm and outside, a yellow light filling the room. _Him into hell's fire. Burn my dread. I'll shrug the pain and run till I see the sunlight again._ The song started to play as the green light died down, as well as the other electronics in the same area, the clock now starting to tick again, the small hand showing that it was 12:01.

The girl on top of the stairs took a few steps forward, her green hair swishing from side to side as she did so. "I didn't think you would arrive so late. I'm Rena Kirijo and I'm one of the students that lives in the dorm!" she stated, a bit bubbly in contrast to the purple-haired girl next to her.

Aisha looked at Elsword and back at Rena, obviously a bit uncomfortable. "Um…Who's he?" she asked Rena, her voice a little nervous.

Rena looked over at Aisha, blinking. "Oh, he's a transfer student. It was a last minute decision to assign him here. Sorry for not telling," she replied, answering the other girl's question.

"…Will it be okay for him to even be here? You know-"Aisha faltered, not knowing how else to complete her sentence as she glanced at Elsword again.

"I guess we'll see," Rena replied back, again in her cheery tone as she paced around Elsword a bit before returning to Aisha's side.

"I can talk for myself! What the hell was that?" Elsword finally exclaimed, all his previous frustration and confusion piled into that one sentence.

Rena blinked. "I'm not sure what you're talking about. Can you please explain a bit more~" she questioned Elsword, tilting her head to the side somewhat.

"Why everything was green and why there was so much blood outside!" Elsword retorted, practically yelling at the two of them.

"Oh, shut up, you dummy! It's obvious you're just tired from your long trip or something because I didn't notice anything like that," Aisha exclaimed back, trying to keep her voice at a normal volume.

Elsword opened his mouth to snap back at her, but closed it, letting out a small sigh. _No point in arguing. She is probably right…or dead stupid. I'll get answers later. _

Rena continued to talk, ignoring what had just happened. "This is Aisha Tanaka. She'll be a junior like you in the coming school year. I hope you two get along~" she said to Elsword, her voice a little taunting and teasing.

Elsword, instead of exchanging his own name to them, looked at Aisha with narrowed eyes. "Why do you have a gun…?" he inclined of the purple-haired girl.

Aisha flinched slightly, almost startled by the question. "Huh? Um…why are you asking a question like that, you idiot? In the world we live in, a girl needs it for self-defense," she replied, obviously flustered.

"Yeah, okay, grapehead," Elsword replied back, keeping his hands tufted into his pocket, his response cool and regulated.

"W-what did you call me?!" Aisha asked, basically trying to tackle Elsword, but Rena held the other girl back, an innocent smile on her face. "It's not a real gun, of course. I think you should get some rest. Your room is on the second floor!" Rena exclaimed, still trying to hold back the angered Aisha.

Elsword nodded promptly, walking past the two of them and up the staircase. Trying to get past the weirdness of the day, he found his room at the end of the hall and entered it. It was a nice size and had a mirror, a bed, a television, and a study table. Dropping his MP3 onto the table, he kicked off his shoes and plumped down onto the bed, throwing the covers onto himself. Tossing and turning for a bit, he closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep within a matter of moments.

* * *

An alarm went off next to Elsword's head, waking him up. Grumbling lightly, he tossed and turned for a bit, eyes squinting lightly as a streak of sunlight refused to let him return to sleep. Letting out a yawn, he slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, and scratched his messy red-colored hair. _First day of school…Should be fun._ Pushing himself off the bed, he plucked out a uniform from his suitcase and changed there. The uniform consisted of a black button up jacket and black slacks, the whole thing looking sleek. That's when a knocking sound emitted at his door.

"Um…Are you awake yet? It's me, Aisha. Rena told me to take you to school and I would like to apologize for yesterday," Aisha's voice sounded from behind the door, genuinely sounding apologetic. However, Elsword was not in the mood to accept it.

"I don't care, grape head. Go to school without me," Elsword replied back, pulling his backpack onto his shoulders, trudging slightly over to the door.

"W-what…You just shoot my apology down? What the hell is wrong with you? The least you can do is show some manners and accept it!" she exclaimed to Elsword, yelling at the red-haired male.

Elsword placed his hand onto the door knob and opened the door suddenly, slamming it into Aisha's face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were there," he said to the purple-haired girl, a false tone of innocence in his voice.

Aisha, raising her hands to hold her nose, took a few steps back, eyes gleaming daggers at Elsword. "I'm going to kill you!" she shouted at Elsword, stepping roughly on his foot, which did nothing to her own annoyance.

"Ah, I'm afraid you can't do that until later. You still have to take me to school," Elsword replied, heading down the steps of the staircase, adjusting the backpack on his shoulder, Aisha following him as she continued to grumble how much of a jerk he was.

Having taken the monorail to the high school, the two of them had barely exchanged a single word to each other. Now trudging to the large school in front of them, Aisha greeted many of the students that passed by the two of them, leading Elsword to believe that Aisha was popular or at least so far.

Aisha took a few steps ahead of Elsword, stopping in front of the school gate and turned around to face Elsword. A small, almost forced smile on her face, her voice strained as well, almost as if she had been forced to say it by Rena. "Welcome to Gekkoukan High School. Hope you like it!"

* * *

So, a new story by me. I will be postponing GoD for now since my mind is brain-dead for that story. This story will be for my school project as well, so I'm literally forced to write and finish this at a more or less rapid rate. I'll be needing…1-4 OC's for later on. After I indicate just how many characters I need and all, I'll pick the ones that I see fit for the story. So, it's first come, first serve for that at least. Anyways, enjoy the story!


	2. Gekkoukan High School

**_Gekkoukan High School_**

_Attaining one's dream requires a stern will and unfailing determination_

Elsword - ?

Aisha – High Magician/Elemental Master

Rena – Combat Ranger/Wind Sneaker

Mario – Ember Artist/Blazing Boxer

Raven – Sword Taker/Blade Master

* * *

Beyond the school gates, a massive group of students were walking slowly to the entrance of the school, the noise of chatter emit amongst them. The school was a giant white-colored building, clear glass windows and doors plastered to it. Pillars were connected to the roof of the school, about five feet off from the very entrance of the school. On the very top was a sphere, held by two lightning-shaped blocks of stone. Walking beside the annoyed Aisha, Elsword entered the school, immediately greeted by a set of lockers in the very front. Other students were taking off their street shoes and put on the school white-colored ones. In the very back was another set of staircase and in front of that were two hallways that laid opposing to each other. A snack counter was in the far right corner of the entrance room and an information board was right next to that.

Elsword trudged over to the first set of lockers, his eyes scanning for his name. Finding it on the bottom left locker, he pulled off his shoes and put on the clean white ones that the school provided. It was a Japanese custom to change shoes at school so that the student's "street" shoes wouldn't dirty the school. He stomped the floor lightly, the shoes making a small squeaking sound. Looking over at Aisha, she had done the same at her own locker, minus the stomping part.

"I think you'll be okay from here. I really don't want to give you the tour of the school and I doubt you actually need it. If you do need my help, go ask some random person here, and don't bother me, okay?" Aisha exclaimed to Elsword, resting her hand onto her hip.

Elsword glared at Aisha. "Yeah, yeah, grapehead, just go to class or something. I don't need your help," he stated to her.

"Hmm…Don't come crying to me when you can't find your class, dummy! Anyways, I'm leaving now," Aisha snapped back, making her way up the staircase on the other side of the room, leaving Elsword alone by the lockers.

Elsword scratched his red-colored hair, letting out a small sigh as he observed his surroundings. In comparison to his last school, this actually seemed a bit fancy for him. The one problem he had right now would be where in the hell was he supposed to go? _Eh…Maybe I should have asked for that tour. Being late on the first day just because you can't find your classroom is pretty bad…_Elsword paced around the center of the room, noticing that there were a lot of students next to the information board. Pushing most of the kids around him, he looked at it, seeing that it was a list of students and their homeroom. Scanning it for his name, he wasn't able to find his name. "And my name isn't on there. Great…" he trailed off. Looking through it again, he found his name on a little sheet of paper attached to the side of the board. _Zexon Elsword. Class F._

So, he was in Class F. Elsword just didn't know how to get there. Letting out a small sigh, he walked up to a random student that was also looking at the board. "Hey…Do you know where Class F is?" he asked him, keeping his tone of voice bored and uninterested.

The other student blinked, lost in his own thoughts, before he turned his head to look at Elsword. A few moments of silence passed between the two of them before he finally responded. "Class F? Oh, what's wrong? Are you lost? It doesn't matter. We have a morning ceremony just down the hall. I think your class is on the second floor," he answered Elsword. With that done, he turned his head back to the board, lost in his own thoughts again as he seemingly mumbled something about an MMO to himself.

_Second floor…I can remember that. So, this school has those stupid morning ceremonies too? What a pain…_Elsword walked down the hallway that the student had shown him, passing the library and two bathrooms. The bathroom "slippers" were laid across the wall, ready for us in case someone wanted to use the bathroom. Finding the auditorium or what looked like it; Elsword swung the two large doors open and walked into it. Almost instantly, the sounds of a million students talking crashed into his ears. Red-colored seats were side by side in multiple rows, a large stage in front of it. A small podium was the only thing up on the stage, apart from the chubby middle-aged man standing behind it. Elsword took a seat in the very back, resting his hands onto his knees; the next few minutes spent just sitting there until the principal hushed everyone up.

"As you begin the new school year, I'd like each of you to remember the proverb, if a job's worth doing; it's a job worth doing well," the principal continued with a very long and uninformative monologue, basically rambling on with various quotes and correlating them to student life. That's when a student behind him tapped on his shoulder, trying to get his attention.

"Pst…I heard you came to came to school with Aisha this morning. I have a question. Do you know if she has a boyfriend?" the student asked Elsword, his voice hushed to a low whisper, but still innocent.

Elsword scrunched his eyebrows up, trying to hold back his laughter. _Oh man, this guy likes Aisha? What an idiot. I think crushing his dreams will suffice for now. _"She does," he whispered back, smiling lightly at the other student.

"Oh…I knew it! Wait…How well do you know her?" the student asked Elsword, pressing the conversation further. That's when a teacher from the sidelines stared at the two of them, shutting up both of them.

Letting out a small sigh, Elsword turned his attention back to the principal, who was still rambling on. After another thirty minutes or so, the principal finally dismissed the students to their classrooms. _Thank god that's over. Class F on the second floor now…Woo._ Standing up now, the red-haired boy left the auditorium and proceeded up the staircase in the entrance area of the school, proceeding to the second floor. Classroom F was to his left as soon as he proceeded up the stairs. Scratching his head, he entered his homeroom.

The homeroom was arranged in a simple manner. Desks were placed in rows and a teacher's desk was at the front of the room as well as a podium in front of a whiteboard. There were large windows off to the side as well. Elsword took a seat in the middle of the classroom, watching other students enter the classroom as well. He noticed both Aisha and the kid in front of the board walk in. _Oh, great. I had to get homeroom with her? _

Both of them paid no attention to Elsword, mostly likely because they didn't see him due to the crowd of students sitting around him. As everyone shuffled around to sit down, the school bell chimed three times, and the teacher walked in. "Hello class. My name is Ms. Toriumi and I will be teaching composition. I am also your homeroom teacher," she said. She had dark brown curls and chocolate-colored eyes. She wore a white turtle neck shirt and a pale orange vest around it and a long skirt.

Ms. Toriumi then started to rant on why she had to use the specific textbook that was assigned the class and how this other textbook would have been much better. As usual, Elsword did not pay attention to such boring monologue lectures, spacing out into what happened yesterday. The images of the blood, coffins, and mysterious boy continued to flash into his mind until Ms. Toriumi's gaze interrupted him from his thoughts. "W-what…?" he asked dumbly.

Ms. Toriumi tapped the podium with her fingers, her eyes narrowed slightly. "Mr. Zexon. I was just telling the class who my favorite author is. Can you tell me who that is?" she asked Elsword.

Elsword sat there dumbly, an awkward silence filling the air. _Am I supposed to know who her favorite author is? Uh…I have no idea. _"Tara Platt?" he inclined, talking more to himself then the teacher. The answer invoked the laughter of the other students until a familiar purple-haired girl spoke up.

"You're favorite author is Utsubo Kubota, correct?" Aisha exclaimed, her voice a little proud as she answered the question correctly.

"Oh, at least someone is listening to me. Pay attention next time," Ms. Toriumi stated, directing the second statement to Elsword, who merely slumped in his desk slightly.

"Of course Aisha got that right!" one of the students in the room exclaimed loudly. "Well, she does pay attention. It's not that hard," another one said. "She does get the highest grades out of all of us though…" a third said, students now gossiping amongst them as Ms. Toriumi continued her lecture of Utsubo Kubota's life story.

At the end of the day, the school bell chimed another three times, signaling that it was time to head home. Elsword let out a small sigh, standing up from his desk. Tufting his hands into his pockets, he started to leave the classroom before Aisha bounded up to him.

"So I get stuck with the idiot in my homeroom? The least you can do is pay attention on the first day of school," Aisha scolded Elsword, placing her hands on her hips.

"Sup grapehead, and I don't think I told you to tell me what to do. So, don't tell me what to do," Elsword retorted to her, shuffling slightly to the right.

"I'm only trying to help you because of Rena! I just hope you get moved out of our dorm as soon as possible," she mumbled to herself, glancing down at the floor.

"That isn't very nice. After all, getting in the same dorm and homeroom? It sounds like fate," Elsword said smugly, a faint smile on his face before receiving an appropriate slap to the face by Aisha.

"S-shut up, you dork! Just because you're new here doesn't mean you get to act like some stupid little kid," Aisha snapped back. She blinked once, letting out a small sigh. "I know you must have a lot of questions. But, just don't tell anyone about last night, okay?" she added.

"Last night?" a random student piped up, stopping in front of the two of them. Elsword looked at him, recognizing him as the student in front of the board. It seemed as if he was lost in thought behind him before Aisha's statement had drawn him back into reality. "Hey, Aisha, I still need to talk to you about those arrangements for the club meeting. Also, what's this about last night? I hope you two didn't do anything funny now," he said to the two of them, his voice a little teasing, but still distant.

Aisha's face turned a little red, obviously a bit flustered. "G-get your mind out of the gutter!" she replied, waving her arms around slightly. Looking back at Elsword, she frowned. "This is Mario. I'm not sure if you've met him before, but yeah. Anyways, I'll see you at the dorm. Try not to get lost like some stupid puppy, okay Elbaka?" she retorted to him, before storming out of the classroom.

The student named Mario watched Aisha storm out of the classroom. "Good-bye. I need to get started on my new character for a new game," he said, a slight tone of nervousness suddenly creeping in his voice as he too left the area.

Elsword blinked, watching the two of them leave. _Man. I should have teased Aisha a bit more. That would have been interesting. _Stretching lightly, he adjusted his backpack, and walked outside of the school, cranking his neck around a bit.

* * *

Back at the dorm, Rena was sitting down on the couch, shuffling through a book, a set of glasses set crookedly on her face as she read through it. A male, with black-colored jagged hair and tanned brown skin walked past Rena, stopping beside her.

"I'm going out for a bit," the male stated, his voice a little deep, gruff, and confident, waving his hand down as he talked to Rena.

Rena blinked, staring at the male, her eyes a little wide as a small smile spread across her face. "Hm…? It's not even night yet. You should rest a bit~" she said to the boy, before a small frown replaced her smile. "I do see what you mean though. People who have had no problems before are suddenly getting diseases and are becoming sick. Most of the cases seem to be due to the Apathy Syndrome. It's a bit worrying, but we'll be fine~" she said, her voice a bit happy again as the smile came onto her face.

"The news says that it's due to stress and other problems, but I doubt that. It has to be THEM. Otherwise, I wouldn't be wasting my time on it," the male stated, making his way over to the door of the dorm.

"Will you be okay on your own?" Rena asked, looking over at him, her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked up from her book again.

"Yeah, I will. I'm just getting in a bit of practice," he stated, leaving the dorm as he closed the door behind him, walking down the sidewalk now as the cars continued to screech beside him on the road.

Rena let out a small sigh, shaking her head lightly. "This isn't a game…Raven. At least the chairman will be arriving today," she said to herself. Closing the book, she tucked it under her arm and started to head up the stairs.

* * *

Elsword continued to walk towards the monorail station that he had taken to get to the school. It was a tiring and long process to get to the Gekkoukan High School. At the dorm, one had to walk for ten minutes to the station and then take a thirty minute venture by monorail to reach the school. It was then another five minute walk from there to the school. It was a bit too much for his liking in any case. Strapping the headphones onto his ears, he turned up the music, closing his eyes lightly. Boarding the monorail, the small train came to life as it started to streak down the rail, shuddering lightly as the thirty minute trip ended. Exiting the monorail, he stepped out onto the street, walking amongst the crowd of people. _Oh I will run burning all regret and dread. And I will face the sun with the pride of living. _The sun shone lightly on his face as he finally reached his dorm. Reaching out for the handle, he pulled the door open and walked inside, shutting it behind him. Two people were on the couches to his right. One was Aisha and the other was a fully grown man that he did not recognize.

"Oh, he didn't get lost then. He's back," Aisha stated, her voice a little smug as she glanced at Elsword but then returned her gaze back at the man in front of her.

"So, this is the new student living here?" the man stated. He had gray-colored hair and was wearing a brown suit and brown pants, his brown eyes staring at Elsword. "Good evening. My name is Lowe Ikutsuki. I'm the chairman of the board at your school. My last name is a bit hard to pronounce, isn't it? That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied and mess up," Lowe said, letting out a small chuckle. He sat back down onto the couch, beckoning Elsword to do the same, and the red-haired male obliged.

Elsword looked at Lowe, his eyes a little open. _So, this is the chairman for my school? He looks better than the other school officials I had before. Usually those guys are giant fat men who do nothing but lounge around, eat fast food, and yell at students all day._

Lowe scratched his head lightly, a smile still on his face. "I have to apologize for the dorm situation. It is taking awhile to find a suitable replacement for you. Is there anything you would like to ask me?" he questioned Elsword, propping one leg over the other as he placed his chin on the top of his two closed hands.

_Questions…I do have a few. _Elsword crossed his arms against his chest, not returning the smile. "I do have a few questions. First, why are you here?"

Lowe blinked, adjusting himself on the couch. "Hm…? I'm here to welcome you to the dorm. I do have other matters that I have to attend to…On that note, where is Rena, Aisha?" he asked the purple-haired girl, looking at her.

"Oh, she's upstairs," Aisha responded curtly, keeping her hands folded together on her lap, trying hard to not reprimand Elsword's bluntness with the chairman.

"Oh, as dedicated as ever. It wouldn't hurt to come downstairs and say hello though. Is it my face…? Or my clothes…? She did say hello to me when I was wearing that-"Lowe trailed off, lost in his own thoughts.

"Um…I don't think it's because of that. She's just busy right now," Aisha explained to Lowe, letting out a nervous laugh.

"You're a real dork," Elsword stated promptly, receiving another slap from Aisha. "You just don't say things like that to adults, you idiot!" she snapped at him.

Elsword rubbed his cheek, looking at Aisha through narrowed eyes. "Oh, and why are you acting so nervous around him? Do you have a crush on him or something, little princess?" he retorted back.

"Didn't you hear me before? Get your mind out of the gutter! Stop being such a jerk and just listen. He's trying to help you, you dork!" Aisha snapped back, the two of them now having their own little heated conversation.

Lowe sat there, twiddling his thumbs, a small sigh escaping from his parted lips. "Is there anything else…?" he asked Elsword, looking at him expectedly.

Elsword looked back at Lowe, shaking his head. _Forget the other questions. He probably can't help me at all. _"No, I'm good," he replied back, the words coming out a little muffled as his cheek was pushed into his mouth a bit by Aisha's hard jabbing. "Would you quit that?!" he snapped at Aisha, flinging his arms around at her as she flinched back slightly.

"Then, if you'll excuse me…" Lowe trailed off again, standing up now as he headed upstairs. "I'm sure you're tired from all the excitement. You should rest. As they say, the early bird catches the bookworm!" he said to Elsword, a moment of silence passing between the two. "…Mind the pun," he added, before continuing up the stairs.

Elsword opened his mouth to protest, but then noticed how tired he actually was. Closing his mouth in defeat, he let out a small sigh, scratching his red-colored hair. _Sleep sounds like a good idea…_Not saying another word to Aisha, trudging to his room now. Placing his backpack onto the ground, he took off his shoes and plumped down onto the bed, throwing the covers onto himself, falling asleep within moments.

* * *

After a few hours of Elsword sleeping peacefully, Lowe had entered another room on the third floor of the dorm. Placing one hand in his pocket and the other limped downwards at his side; he trudged forward, looking at the two girls stationed at the large monitor in front of them. Elsword's room was on the monitor, both Rena and Aisha observing it as Lowe entered the room. "How's the work coming along? Is he sleeping peacefully?" he asked the two of them.

Rena stood up, looking at Lowe now, a faint smile etched across her face. "He's been sleeping peacefully for awhile now~" she said cheerfully to him, stretching her arms out before resting them on her hips. "Do you think that he's a-"she ended her statement there, not sure how to finish it.

Lowe took a seat on one of the chairs, propping his leg onto the other on as he scratched his head again. "I can't say. We'll just have to wait and see. The Dark Hour is approaching," he replied. The two girls looked back at the monitor, the small clock overhead at 11:59 PM, that's when a small _boom_ emitted, the time now 12:00. Everything at once turned green, but unlike the people outside, all three of them remained mobile and not in a coffin, not even fazed by the sudden change of color and feeling, as if they were already used to it.

Still looking at the monitor, Lowe had a blank expression on his face. "He's still sleeping. The Dark Hour occurs every day at midnight. It's a…hidden hour. At this time, a regular person Transmogrifies into a coffin, and is not aware of anything that happens during this time," Lowe stated.

Aisha blinked, glancing from the monitor to the Chairman. "Then…Does that mean that the idiot is one of us?" she asked, mentally cursing. _Same dorm, same homeroom, and now this…? If he really is like us then my life will just suck._

"As you can see, he has retained his human form. Elsword may be asleep, but he is feeling and experiencing the Dark Hour. The only thing that concerns me now is whether or not if he has the Potential. However, he has too or he would have fallen prey to THEM by now," Lowe said.

* * *

Elsword, still dreaming, imagined zooming by diamond-inscribed marble floors, a blue -colored door masked with aura at the very end, opening lightly as white light protruded from the opening, letting him enter. Once the light died down, the first thing Elsword noticed was the color of the room. It was a bright purplish color. The sound of an escalating elevator emitted in the background and in the very back were two people. One was dressed in a suit, his bald head shining somewhat and had an abnormally long nose. The other was wearing an attendant uniform of some sort, matching the exact color of the room. Their skin color was pale and white; the woman's eyes a pale yellow as they bore into Elsword's. The ancient-looking man had his hands clasped together, white gloves outlining the shape of them. In the very back was a clock, the dials moving at a very fast speed. "Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young man," the man stated, looking down at the table before lifting it up to look at Elsword as well.

Elsword continued to sit there, finding himself unable to speak, finding this situation very much like the one with the creepy boy. The old-looking man continued to speak, despite Elsword's own internal struggle. "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This is Elizabeth. She's a resident here, like myself," Igor stated, his voice raspy and gruff.

Elizabeth smiled lightly at Elsword, waving at him lightly. "Pleased to meet you," she said to him, her voice sweet and innocent, almost like a child.

Igor continued. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter…It's been years since we've had a guest," he said. Waving his hand forward, a slip of paper appeared on the table in front of Elsword. It was the contract that he had signed for the creepy boy. Elsword's eyes widened in surprise lightly, still unable to speak mostly due to shock of the entire situation, just sitting there with wide eyes at the contract placed on the velvet table.

"You are destined to master your unique ability and use it when the situation calls for it. To do so, you will require my help. My only requirement for my help is that you abide by the contract and accept full responsibility for your actions, whether it is your direct or indirect actions. "

"I understand," Elsword stated, unable to control the words that were coming out of his mouth. _What…? I don't understand. Don't speak for me, mind! _Igor swiped his hand forward again, a glowing key now materializing in front of him and then flew into Elsword's pocket. "Till we meet again," Igor stated. The entire room and the two residents then collapsed and shattered into nothingness, leaving Elsword to linger in a dream of static.

* * *

"This is very interesting. Even those who have the potential tend to be unstable and reckless at first. Some even have emotional breakdowns and act like a child before they fully mature to the Dark Hour. But, he hasn't exhibited any symptoms or problems at all. He's just sleeping normally," Lowe stated, still observing the giant monitor in front of them.

Aisha let out a small sigh, a small frown plastered on her face. "I'm not comfortable doing this. We're treating him like a lab rat…" she trailed off.

"I understand your concern, but it is crucial that we recruit new members to our cause. I heard that he's your classmate and has the same homeroom as you. Would you not feel more comfortable working alongside someone in the same grade?" Lowe questioned Aisha, his voice calm.

"As if! The guy's an idiot. If anything, he'll just compromise our mission and get us all killed," Aisha shot back, glancing down at her knees now, leaving an awkward silence for a moment or two.

That's when a sudden _bing _noise emitted from Rena's pocket. The green-haired girl blinked, tapping something. "Raven, is that you? We're in the command room~" she said sweetly, her voice light.

Raven's voice was portrayed throughout the entire room, sounding exasperated and out of breath. "This thing is huge! It's one of THEM and unfortunately, it's chasing me…I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there. Be ready," he said, before the transmission ended.

Aisha's eyes widened slightly as she suddenly stood up from the chair, her expression a little shocked. "I-Is he actually bring that thing here? Is he an idiot?" she exclaimed, looking from the chairman to Rena.

Rena stood up as well, the usual cheery smile vanish from her face, her eyes blazing lightly. "Mr. Chairman! We'll continue our observation later. We'll prepare for battle. Please stay here where it is safe," she stated to Lowe, blinking at him.

Lowe nodded, still sitting with his legs crossed on the chair. "Be careful. You haven't fought for awhile and Aisha hasn't had all. Take care," he told the two girls, watching them leave the Command Room and descend the staircase to the first floor.

Descending down the stairs, Rena and Aisha made their way to the entrance door, watching as Raven slid through it and shut it, slumping down to the ground. "Raven!" Rena exclaimed, stopping in front of him as well as Aisha. The purple-haired girl knelt down beside the black-haired boy, looking at him, who was holding his arm.

"Are you okay?" Aisha asked Raven, her purple irises glittering with concern as she looked at Raven, glancing over at Rena now.

Raven slowly lifted his head, letting out a small sigh. "I'm fine. Get ready to be surprised. That thing will be here any second…," he stated to the two of them. Raven lifted himself up to his feet, still holding his arm now.

Rena stepped forward to him, a frown imprinted on her face. "This is no time to joke around, Raven. The thing chasing you was one of THEM?" she inclined.

Raven nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Yes, but it's no ordinary one. It's much more powerful than the ones we've normally seen…" he trailed off. That's when the entire dorm started to shake, almost as if from the impact of a tackle. The three of them stumbled slightly, Raven almost falling back down to the ground again.

"Aisha, go upstairs and wake Elsword up! Then escape from the back. Raven and I will stop it here," Rena ordered the purple-haired girl, pulling out the silver-colored gun from her holster. "You led it here, Raven, so you'll be fighting alongside me," she added, looking at Raven.

Raven merely glared at Rena, turning his gaze to the door in front of him. "Hmph. As if I had a choice," he exclaimed, a sly smile coming onto his face. "Hurry and wake him up, Aisha!" he exclaimed.

"O-oh, right, I'll go get him…" Aisha trailed her, her voice trembling lightly with the severity of the situation. Whisking around, she headed towards the staircase and headed to the second floor, running down to the end of the hall to Elsword's room. _I really do have to deal with this jerk…He better not slam the door in my face again. Better yet, I'll just barge in. _Bashing her hand against the door, Aisha went into the room. "Wake up!" she exclaimed to the still sleeping Elsword. Walking over to his bed, she started to shake him, slapping him across the face once for good measure.

Elsword's eyes fluttered open, his crimson eyes staring into Aisha's purple ones. "WHATTA VELVET IGOR NOSE ELIZBETH ABILITY!" was his immediate response to being woken up, still recounting the events that had happened in his dream. "Oh, it's just you grapehead. What's the problem?" he asked her, having calmed down.

"I don't have time to explain. We just have to get out of here as quickly as possible. Just listen to me, okay?" Aisha inclined of Elsword, immediately grabbing his hand, their fingers intertwining with each other as the purple-haired girl led him out of the room, heading down the stairs and towards the back next to the maple table in the dining section of the dorm, the dorm still shaking from time to time.

"WOMAN, WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?!" Elsword questioned Aisha, but didn't stop the purple-haired girl, noticing the eerie green color of his surroundings and the feeling of butterflies that had raged in his stomach the last time it was like this. _So, they lied. Or, they're blind. Does this have something to do with the contract and Igor and everything? This is just too confusing…_

Aisha stopped at the door, a small _ping _sound emitting from her pocket. Tapping her pager, Rena's voice echoed from the small device.

"Aisha! Can you hear me?" the green-haired girl's voice came out, but it was urgent and serious this time, far from its usual cheery and joyous perspective.

"Y-yes, I can hear you. What's wrong?" Aisha talked through the transmitter, placing the device next to her ear, her eyes a little wide as she waited for Rena to talk again.

"What is going on? Can someone explain to me what's going on?" Elsword asked, the question open to anyone, but did not receive an answer.

"Be careful! There is more than one enemy. The one Raven and I are fighting is not the one that he saw! Please be safe and-"Rena's voice suddenly cut her, her entire transmission ending there.

"Rena? Are you there? Rena!?" Aisha shouted into the pager, not receiving an answer. Gulping, she put the pager back into her pocket, before the door behind them suddenly lurched forward; almost breaking as cracks was put into it. Letting out a small yelp, Aisha lurched back. "Um…Come with me!" she shouted at Elsword, taking his hand again and led him back to the second floor. "Where to go…Where to go…" she muttered to herself, the dorm still shaking lightly, the odor of blood now drifting into their noses.

Elsword blinked, seeing that Aisha was at a lost as to what she should do now. Letting out a small sigh, he used his other hand to scratch his messy red-colored hair. "You really are a little princess, aren't you? You can't do anything by yourself," he taunted Aisha, glaring at her.

"Now is not the time for your stupid games, Elbaka! If we don't find a way to escape…We will…" she trailed off, not wanting to finish that statement. "This is your fault! If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be in this mess!" she exclaimed, hitting Elsword on the top of his head with her hand.

Elsword jerked back, rubbing his head now. "How is it my fault? Whatever this is, you guys should be more prepared or something!" he shouted back.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! You're just some hotshot jerk who thinks he knows everything! If you want to criticize me, then you find a way for us to escape!" Aisha snapped back at him.

"Fine, I will. Don't complain to me when I'm right," Elsword hissed back. Grabbing her wrist now, he scanned his surroundings, his eyes narrowed slightly, trying to stay calm in this situation, the dorm starting to shake even more now. Seeing the staircase, Elsword let Aisha there, making his way to the fourth floor, only to find a single door there. Bursting through there, he found that the two of them were now on the rooftop, the full moon above them now, almost grinning sadistically at them.

"The rooftop…? Are you an idiot? IT can get us here!" Aisha snapped at Elsword, trying to slap him again, fuming at the red-haired boy.

Elsword ducked, avoiding the slap. "Look, what are you talking about? What is the thing that is trying to kill us?" he asked Aisha, but he found that he didn't need to ask that question. The entire rooftop was covered in specks of blood and from the other side of the rooftop, the dorm still shaking, a black oil-like hand grasped the edge of the rooftop, black blobs of nothingness dripping from its hand and falling onto the pavement. Multiple glob-like hands grasped the rooftop and then it pulled itself up, a blue mask, the ones used in plays and what not, came up. The entire thing pushed itself onto the rooftop, a mass of blob with hands, while one held up the mask. The other hands held up silver-plated metal like swords, numbering eight in total.

Aisha stood in front of Elsword, her eyes wide as she trembled lightly. "Those monsters…We call them Shadows," she informed him. The Shadow continued toward them, swords moving around aimlessly as its mask glared at the two of them. Aisha pulled out the silver-colored gun in her holster, but instead of pointing it at the Shadow; she placed the muzzle onto her head.

Elsword's eyes widened. _Are you insane? Shooting yourself will not help in this situation! Shoot that thing, you idiot! _He found himself unable to move, frozen in his own shock, the Shadow approaching them, a relative distance of five feet between the two.

Aisha shook lightly, her finger on the trigger, but couldn't press it. Her legs trembled and that's when the Shadow struck, the flat of the blade knocking into Aisha, sending her sprawling towards the door, the gun sliding over to Elsword.

"Aisha!" Elsword exclaimed, watching the purple-haired girl be knocked over. Picking up the gun, he pointed it at the Shadow, his finger around the trigger, ready to shoot the giant black blob in front of him.

* * *

Back in the Command room were Rena and Raven, who had successfully defeated the other Shadow. They stood at the monitor, watching the scene unfold on it, Lowe standing behind them.

"There! Come on Raven!" Rena exclaimed to Raven, starting to head towards the door before Lowe's hand cut her path, his arm extended in front of her.

"Wait," Lowe said simply, his other hand crossed against is chest, his expression serious as he gazed at the monitor.

"What the hell are you doing? Those two will die if we don't help them!" Raven shouted, trying to push his way past the Chairman now, itching for another battle.

"Calm down and relax. Lets' watch what happens," Lowe said, making both Rena and Raven turn their heads back to the monitor.

* * *

_Why am I not shooting? Why am I frozen in place? I…I can't die here. _Elsword held the gun at the Shadow, who had stopped for a moment, almost expectedly, its swords wavering around it in a graceful dance.

An image of the creepy boy from before flashed in Elsword's mind, his smug smile and jail suit caught vividly in his mind. The pale child made a gun sign with his hand, extending his thumb up and his index finger to the right, clasping the rest of his fingers to his palm. He then directed the gun he had made with his hands to his head, his eyes glittering like. "Go on," he said, his voice urging him to do what he had commanded.

Elsword lowered the gun and slowly placed the muzzle onto his head, a sly smile etching itself across his face, almost demonic. He found himself saying words that he did not control or understand, but nevertheless was still saying them. "I am thou. Thou art I. From the sea of thy slumber, I call upon thee. Awaken thyself in my orb of light and bring me victory in this fight. Formation bond. Arcana Fool. Come forth, Sword knight!" he exclaimed, pulling the trigger of the gun. A bang emitted, but he was far from dead. His eyes glowed a dark crimson color, close to the color of blood, an aura enveloping him as a mass of wind broke out from him. His appearance shifted slightly, flickering, until he had dawn a new set of clothes, a set of armor and his hair was spiky up and no longer messy. A sword was now in his hand, but he was not confused nor was he scared. He was in a trance of power. Elsword looked over at the Shadow, a sadistic smile forming on his face, while Aisha stared wide-eyed at the red-haired male in front of her.

* * *

Rena watched the scene in front of her on the monitor. Lowe and Raven stared at it with serious expressions, not saying a word as Elsword transformed into a Sword Knight. "As we suspected…This is great news!" Rena exclaimed, her voice a little cheery, but still caught in the mood of the situation; dark.

* * *

Elsword propped the sword onto his shoulder, the Shadow now letting out a high-pitched roar at him, tumbling at him wildly, apparently shaken by the sudden transformation of the boy. He merely smiled, swerving to the side, avoiding the blades that were slashed towards him, a wisp of air cut beside him, taking the tip of his red hair off. Spinning around, he kicked the Shadow's body, sending it stumbling backwards lightly. Elsword knelt down and then jumped into the air, spinning as he suddenly lurched forward, stabbing the sword down at the Shadow's mask, the Shadow lifting up two of its swords to deflect the blow, sending Elsword backwards. Skidding across the pavement of the rooftop, a blue-colored aura enveloped his body. His entire image flickered and he appeared behind the Shadow, his sword a blur as he slashed inwards and outwards of its body, a baby-like screech roaring from the Shadow as it launched it hands out, knocking the knight down.

Stabbing the ground, Elsword steadied himself, his eyes glinting dangerously. He wasn't in his right mind, completely overtaken by the sudden surge of power that had awakened inside of him, the power of his inner self. Blitzing around the Shadow, Elsword materialized in front of the Shadow again, spinning around as his sword dug into the Shadow's body. Stopping, he lurched forward, digging his sword upwards as a flame explosion sprouted from the tip of his sword, launching the Shadow into the air, some of the arms now evaporating into nothingness. The Shadow hit the rooftop harshly, shaking the entire dorm as it slowly raised itself to its feet again, a small growl emitting from it now.

Attacking it again, Elsword and Shadow started to dance with each other, launching strikes and slashes at each other, each blow either deflected or avoided. The Shadow had the advantage of having many swords while Elsword had the advantage of both speed and power. Clashing his sword with the Shadow's, the two had a power struggle for a few seconds, the knight pressing forward into the Shadow, sparks emitting around the two. Seeing something shiny appear in his peripheral vision, Elsword ducked, two swords grazing his opposing cheeks, a drip of blood falling onto the ground as he released his sword. Falling backwards, his hands were placed onto the pavement of the rooftop, as he kicked his legs out, launching the Shadow backwards. Jumping up, he wiped the blood from his cheeks and picked up his sword again, the blue-colored aura now vanishing as a red one now replaced it. Two small fires erupted in Elsword's pupils as he slowly trudged over to the weakened Shadow, who was still recovering.

Elsword surged forward, slashing his sword into the Shadow's body once before launching it into the air. Throwing his sword up, he jumped into the air, kicking off the Shadow's own swords as he used that momentum to grab his own sword and swing down, slashing at the Shadow's mask and made contact, slicing it in half. Black goo erupted from the wound, dripping onto Elsword's face, a wail escaping from the Shadow. The two hit the rooftop, the Shadow collapsing onto it as Elsword landed on his feet. Before fully balancing himself, he felt something pierce his shoulder and looked at the tip of a blade embedded into it, thrown by the Shadow. Pulling it out roughly, his own blood mixed with the blood on the floor, not even wincing as he stepped forward to the Shadow again. Dancing around it, he started to slash, cut, jab, and stab the remains of the Shadow, the wailing sound emitting from it vanishing as it exploded into nothingness, leaving only Elsword and Aisha there alone, the Shadow gone now, the Dark Hour coming to an end as the time hit 12:01.

Aisha, still shocked and astounded from what she just saw, pushed herself to her feet, almost afraid to approach Elsword. "Um…Elbaka! Are you okay…?" she asked him, her gaze lowering onto the wound on his shoulder. A moment of silence passed before she pressed her hand onto his shoulder, shaking him lightly, her eyes glittering with concern.

The surge of power had vanished from Elsword, the new costume and sword vanishing, his hair turning back to its usual messy self. Slumping downwards, the red-haired boy fell onto the pavement of the rooftop, slipping into unconsciousness as Rena, Raven, and Lowe kicked the door down and joined Aisha at Elsword's side.

* * *

_You, who wish to safeguard the future, however limited it may be…You've been given one year. Go forth without falter, your heart as your guide. The bonds you make will create a new power that will surge within you, hardening you for the hardships to come. However, you must remember one thing amidst all this. You. Must. Accept. Full. Responsibility. For. Your. Actions._

* * *

And that my friends, is chapter 2. All your OC's have been accepted. I still need one more male and 2 more females of this moment. I do hope I portrayed Mario well, but I have to change him slightly to fit the role of that specific character. Anyways, this is a pretty long chapter, hope you guys don't mind, but I really find this story enjoyable to write. Please R&R, since it does motivate me. xD

MarioFireRed ; Well, it works. xD It's for a project actually. A really long one. OC accepted and shown~

G123u ; Glad to know you liked it. I already like this more than GoD. And, well. I never reread my chapters. Woo for spelling mistakes. I need to fix that. xD And, that won't matter until later. He'll continue being a jerk! =D /shot

SerenityofStars ; I think this chapter answers your question. And, I would not want Mr. Creepy in my room asking me to accept total responsibility for my actions. I rather not do that~  
Guest 1 ; Thanks for the review. This will be more or less, Persona 3. xD

Guest 2 ; Thanks for the review. I will try to update at a good pace. xD

The Cynical Asian ; Um…People who don't like Elsword fanfictions? Anyways, OC accepted. I'll need him. xD

Hitsuken ; Thanks for the OC! I already have a role in mind for him, but he won't show up for awhile. xD

Me ; Thank you for the review. And I am glad that you think that way. It will be a bit difficult to correlate everything, but well, it'll be fun doing that.


	3. SEES

**_SEES_**

The silent voice within one's heart whispers the most profound wisdom

Elsword - ?

Aisha – High Magician/Elemental Master

Rena – Combat Ranger/Wind Sneaker

Mario – Ember Artist/Blazing Boxer

Raven – Sword Taker/Blade Master

* * *

Exhaustion was what pried at Elsword's mind, leading him into unconsciousness as soon as the battle with the Shadow had ended. The familiar white diamond marble materialized underneath the red-haired male, passing by rapidly as his body crashed into a blue-colored door, a white light enveloping him. As the light died down, Elsword found himself sitting on a velvet chair, the sound of the elevator chiming lightly, the clock's dials moving as fast as ever. He was in the Velvet Room once again. The two residents, Igor and Elizabeth stood on the opposite side of the large table in front of him, the ancient-looking man sitting down now as he clasped his hands together.

Igor smiled lightly at Elsword, tilting his head to the side. "It's so nice to see you again. You became unconscious after awakening to your…power. It is not a problem though, so you do not have to worry, just relax. The power that you have called upon…Is your inner self. It is a manifestation of your psyche. I believe you can call it a Formation Bond. It is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli. Consider it a mask that will protect you and aid you in the hardships that will soon follow."

Elsword sat there, his fingers clenching up tightly. _Formation Bond? I think I did say that before…Wait. Why am I thinking about this? Why am I here? Why the hell is this happening to me? I didn't want this to happen…Why is it always this fiendish city that always brings me trouble? Why…_A small amount of rage started to pile up in the pit of his stomach, but he held it down, still listening to Igor, wanting as much information as possible.

"However, your power is still weak. When you use your power, you must channel your inner strength, the drive of you own will and determination. This ability evolves as you develop your feelings, your emotional ties as others. When you saw that girl named Aisha attacked, the power erupted within you. That is only one bond. Make more bonds and you will gain more power. Please do remember that. As of now, your world still runs and so does the Dark Hour. The next time I see you, it will be of your own accord. Farewell," Ignore finished his speech, waving his hand through the air. Like last time, the entire dream crumbled to nothingness, almost like glass being crushed into a million pieces, so did the dream, and his consciousness drifted into reality once more.

* * *

The first thing Elsword saw when his eyes opened was the cream color of the ceiling and the single rotating fan in the middle. White covers were drawn onto him and a streak of sunlight shone on his face, passing through the giant window next to him. The smell of fresh flowers danced around his nose, the sight of yellow daffodils in his sight next to his head. His crimson eyes stared down, locking down on the purple-haired girl sitting next to him, a mixture of both happiness and irritation in her face as she saw Elsword wake up.

"So, you're finally awake, Elbaka!? Took you long enough…" Aisha trailed off, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked at him, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"I didn't know I was missed. Why are you here?" Elsword asked, sitting up now. He pressed his back against the base of the bed he was in, placing his arms behind his head as he leaned lazily to the side.

"Me…Miss you? As if! I don't care about stupid dummies like you," Aisha snapped back at him, placing her hands onto her lap now. "And I'm just checking up on you because Rena told me. It's not like I actually care or anything. But, how much sleep do you need? It's been a whole week!" she added.

Elsword rolled his eyes, still keeping his lazy position. "Yeah, sure. Just keep believing that, grapehead. I've been asleep for a week…? Guess I really needed it then…" he gave a nervous laugh, thinking about the Velvet Room and what Igor told him. _Bonds make me stronger…Does that mean I have to make my friendship with other people stronger as well? Igor told me my first bond was Aisha…_"I have a question. What were those things?"

"I already told you or are you telling me that you don't remember already? They're called Shadows. Rena and the Chairman will explain everything later. Just hurry up and get better," Aisha retorted, placing her head lazily on the palm of her hands now, looking at him with a bored expression.

Elsword smirked at Aisha. "You know, you could treat me a bit better. I did save your life," he taunted Aisha, stretching his arms out a bit, letting out a yawn.

"O-oh, shut up! I just didn't know what to do. Don't blame me. It was my first time actually seeing one of those things…Or having to actually try and fight it…" Aisha trailed off, her sudden rage lost as her voice became a little sad, her eyes now looking at the ground. "I've been wanting to tell you for awhile, but I'm sort of like you. I already looked at your file because Rena showed me. My dad died in an accident when I was little and my mom and I aren't exact on good terms. You're all alone too…right? The explosion happened at '99. There was a big explosion in the area and it killed my dad, but no one really knows what happened. The experiment he was working on was run by the Kirijo group. I'm hoping if I stick around long enough, I'll finally learn something," Aisha stated to Elsword.

Elsword blinked, a little silent. "All I did was ask for you to say thank you. I didn't ask for your entire life story, but I do have to say it is an interesting one. Thank you for telling me," he said to Aisha.

Aisha scrunched her eyebrows up, smirking lightly. "Did you just say thank you? Did the stupid jerk finally get some manners? I'm impressed!" she taunted Elsword.

It was Elsword's time to be flustered. "B-be quiet. Just leave me alone," he said to her, looking in the other direction now, his crimson eyes staring at nothing.

"Then, I'll be heading out soon. The doctors should be releasing you soon. But, take it easy and be a good patient, or I'll whip you like the dummy you are!" she exclaimed to him, flustering Elsword even more. She took her small bag from the floor and swung it onto her shoulders. Nodding to him, she quickly left the hospital room and headed back to the dorm.

Elsword played with his red hair after Aisha left, a small frown on his face. "Jeez. Why am I acting like this? I haven't been this social in years…I totally blame Igor."

* * *

School the next day was a boring one. It was almost as if Elsword had not been missed at all, the only one noticing his absence in his homeroom was Aisha and Mario, the latter who had requested his help when asked some sort of question about the Jomono period or something. The answer was mud huts, but Elsword had guessed on that one. _Doesn't hurt to guess all the time…right? _The school bell chimed three times, signaling that the day was over. Elsword sat at his deck, packing up his things as he neatly shoved them into his backpack and swung it over his shoulder. A small sigh escaped from his parted lips as he slowly stood up, stretching his arms out. His body still felt heavy and exhausted from sleeping for an entire week. It felt as if he was a zombie in a way, literally limping from place to place when his legs decided to work against him.

Aisha, after exchanging a few words with other students, strutted over to Elsword. "Elbaka! The chairman wants to see you back at the dorm. He needs to explain some things to you, so don't go wandering around aimlessly in town and be late, okay?" she exclaimed to the red-haired male.

"I don't think I can go wander around aimlessly. My leg is dead. You should carry me," Elsword replied, a small smug smile on his face as he tapped Aisha's forehead.

"H-hey, don't touch me! And you're too heavy for me to carry. Go get a wrestler or something. Maybe they can actually pick you up, fatty," Aisha snapped back, making her way towards the classroom door. "Just don't be late or Raven will have your head," she added as she left Classroom F.

_Raven? Who the hell is Raven…? Is it a bird…? They have a pet bird? I'm sure I would have heard it squeaking or something by now…_Elsword scratched his head, letting out a small sigh. "Ah, it doesn't matter. I'll find out soon enough…" he muttered to himself. Half limping and half walking, he trudged out of the classroom, went down the appropriate staircase, and went to his locker. Switching his school shoes with his "street" ones, he plastered his headphones onto his ears and made the long journey back to the dorm. After 5 minutes of walking, a thirty minute monorail ride, and another ten minutes of walking, the familiar four story building materialized in his vision.

Entering the dorm, the first thing Elsword noticed was that no one was on the main floor. _Hmm. Aisha didn't specify where I was supposed to go. What a pain. _Signing his name on the check-up sheet on the reception desk, he continued up the stairs, observing the second floor. "Anyone there?" he called out. A few moments of silence greeted him before he decided to try the third floor to no avail. Going to the fourth floor, he saw Aisha standing in front of a giant door, her hands crossed against her chest.

"I told you not to be late, and what do you do? Be late like an idiot! God, can't you just listen for once? Everyone's already been inside for twenty minutes," Aisha reprimanded him, her violet irises glaring at Elsword's crimson ones.

"Can you stop complaining, grapehead? I'm a zombie right now. I will be fashionably late," Elsword retorted, making his way over to the door.

"Stop calling me grapehead! I don't even know why I told you my life story," Aisha mumbled, glancing away from the red-haired male.

"It's because you want someone to cuddle with and tell you that everything will be alright. I can do that," Elsword teased the purple-haired girl, who immediately got flustered.

"S-shut up and just go inside! Stupid Elbaka…" she muttered the second part to herself, watching Elsword walk into the Command Room.

As Aisha had said, Lowe and Rena were already sitting down on the couch, but Elsword did not recognize the black-haired male that was sitting with them. Taking a seat beside them, he placed his hands behind his head and leaned lazily to the side. "So, what's up?" he asked them.

Lowe blinked, his leg propped up on his other one as he smiled lightly at him. "I'm glad that you're okay. There are some things that I need to discuss with you. The boy sitting next to you is Raven and he also lives in this dorm. I hope you two get along."

Raven nodded his head in acknowledgement to Elsword. "Hey, how are you?" he asked him, his voice quiet and low now, one hand held firmly on his arm.

_Ah, so it's a person. Makes sense. _Elsword blinked. "I'm fine. I feel like a zombie, but yeah, I'm good," he replied.

Lowe continued. "Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours?" he asked Elsword, his gray-colored eyes staring into Elsword's.

A moment of silence passed between the two. "…Say that again?" Elsword inclined, scratching his head now, a bit confused by his question. "I would say no."

Rena smiled lightly at Elsword. "Do you remember the night you came here and when you were on the rooftop? Everything was an eerie green, a bit creepy, and there were coffins and blood everywhere. That is the Dark Hour, a hidden hour between one day and the next~" she explained to him, her voice light and composed.

"The Dark Hour happens every day at midnight. It'll happen tonight and every night to come," Lowe added.

Raven piped up, his eyes narrowed slightly, a look of excitement on his face. "Normal people just sleep in the coffins during the Dark Hour, but that's not what's so interesting. You saw those creatures, the Shadows…It's our job to defeat them. Sounds entertaining, right?"

Rena's eyes twitched slightly, her smile suddenly turning into a more serious expression. "Raven, why do you always act like that? This isn't a game. You got hurt the other day!" she exclaimed to him, making the black-haired male exchange an almost nervous glare with her.

Lowe let out a small chuckle, scratching his head now. "Now, now. He does his work well," he said to the two of them, calming them both now. He turned his attention back to Elsword. "Anyways, we're the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad or SEES for short. To the school board, we are known as a school club. However, this group is dedicated purely to defeating the Shadows and eradicating the Dark Hour from this world. I am the club advisor and Rena is the leader."

Elsword's thoughts raced back to the Velvet Room. _The Dark Hour…Did Igor contract me just so that I can stop it? Is this why I somehow came back to this city? _"How do you fight them?"

Lowe blinked. "Although rare, some people can function during the Dark Hour. Some may even be able to use a power that can defeat these Shadows. You have already awakened to this power on the rooftop, the Formation Bond. Shadows can only be defeated by the Users of the Formation Bond. It's all up to this group to protect this city from the Shadows," he stated.

Rena stood up, bending down to grab a small silver case on the coffee table. Opening it, a red armband and silver-colored gun were in it. "We want you to join us. I've already prepared an Evoker for you, the gun-shaped device. It has the ability to allow someone to use their Formation Bond. We'd like you to lend us your strength~" she requested Elsword.

"If you do join us, you can also stay in the dorm for your room. It would be much more efficient," Lowe added, crossing his arms against his chest.

Elsword's thoughts went back to the hospital room, when he was talking to Aisha. He recalled how she was doing all of this just so that she can find clues to how her father died. Then, the Velvet Room. It seemed as if Igor had set him up in the situation and the mysterious boy as well, with whatever contract he had signed. Even if he refused this, he would still experience the Dark Hour. It didn't matter what he did, he was now a part of this, whether he liked it or not. Letting out a small sigh, he felt his inner strength grow slightly, the formation of a new bond with the SEES group. His crimson-colored eyes stared at the three of them, a small smile etching itself on his face. "I'll do it."

* * *

Having gone to bed for the night, Elsword was sprawled across his bed, the covers wrapped around his body as he stared at the ceiling. The small digital alarm clock next to him hit 12:00 and the familiar pale green color soon enveloped everything in his room. _So, the Dark Hour really does happen every night. Rena told me to rest, but I can't fall asleep…_

"Hi, how are you?" a hushed voice emitting, condensed to a whisper, a small chuckle escaping from the pale boy's mouth. His blue eyes stared at Elsword's, the creepy boy sitting on the edge of the bed.

Elsword looked at him, not even surprised at his sudden appearance due to what he had gone through in the past few days. "How did you get in here? I'm pretty sure I locked my door," he questioned him, not even moving to look at him.

The pale boy looked at Elsword again, stroking his chin with his fingers. "I'm always with you…Soon, the end will come. I remembered, so I thought I should tell you. "

"The end…?" Elsword inclined, slowly sitting up now, a small amount of concern glittering in his crimson eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

He let out a small chuckle, a small smirk forming on his small face. "The end of everything. But, to be honest, I don't really know what it is or what is causing it," he replied to the red-haired male, slowly standing up now. Shifting himself so that he could still look at Elsword, he lowered both of his hands to his side. "Oh, but it looks like you've awakened to your power and a unique power it is. A power that can take many forms yet is bound by none, an empty entity that can be filled with anything. It may prove to be your salvation, depending on where you end up," the jail-suit boy said. His image flickered lightly, materializing at the other end of the bed. "Do you remember when we first met? I expect you to honor your commitment. I'll be watching you, even if you forget about me…Now, sleep," he added, snapping his fingers as he vanished from the room, sleep falling onto Elsword as the red-haired male's head fell back onto the pillow.

* * *

The sound of bleeping woke up Elsword. His head shook lightly, the feeling of something vibrating until his pillow making him wide-alert almost instantly. Letting out a small yawn, his hand slept underneath the covers of his pillow and he grabbed his phone, turning off the electronic alarm that he had set for himself. Tossing the phone over to his desk, he stretched his arms out before he rubbed his eyes. Shifting himself over the bed, his legs dangled for a moment or two before he pushed himself of it, pulling the covers off the window so that a steady stream of sunlight would pass through. "It's a nice day…" he murmured to himself, completely forgetting what had happened last night during the Dark Hour and his encounter with the mysterious boy.

"Hey, Elbaka! Come downstairs!" Aisha's voice rang from the first floor, echoing in throughout the second floor hallway and into his room. Elsword rubbed his head, a small frown plastering itself onto his face. "God. It's Sunday and that grapehead still needs me…"

Changing into a fresher set of clothes, he put on his "dorm" shoes and walked out into the hall, proceeding down the staircase and onto the first floor of the dorm. The purple-haired girl was by the door, her back pressed against the reception desk, her arms crossed against her chest as her eyes stared at Elsword.

"You sleep so much. Raven wants us to meet someone, so try to be nice for once in your life, okay?" Aisha told him, her eyes narrowed slightly at him.

"Ugh. It's Sunday and I'm tired. Who does he want us to meet, grapehead?" Elsword asked back, rubbing his eyes again as he made his way over to the door, before his head swung back slightly, taking a clipboard in the face.

"Stop calling me grapehead, you idiot! Just try and be pleasant," Aisha reprimanded the now mumbling Elsword, who stood beside her, rubbing his slightly swollen forehead.

Raven walked through the door, closing it behind him. "There's someone I want to introduce to the two of you," he said to the two of them. Looking back at the door, he narrowed his eyes. "Hey, hurry up."

No answer came back, but the door slowly opened. Mario came into the dorm, pushing a suitcase into it, a backpack swung over his shoulders. "Hello…" he said to them, a portable game device in his other hand as he stared at them.

Aisha blinked, her mouth open a little. "M-Mario? Why is he here!?" she exclaimed, shocked by the sudden appearance of her homeroom classmate.

Raven continued, ignoring Aisha's surprise and hostility. "This is Mario from Class F. He'll be staying here as of today."

Aisha frowned, her eyebrows scrunching up slightly. "He's staying here…? You've got to be kidding me! There's no way he can have the potential!" she retorted, glancing from Raven to Mario.

"It is possible. I bumped into him the other night. He does have the potential, but he just awakened to it recently. I told him about us and he agreed to help," Raven stated to the two, explaining how he had found and recruited Mario.

"I figured it would be like any other video game that I've played, so it should be easy," Mario said to Aisha, a little cocky of his supposed skills. "Raven found my crying like a baby at the convenience store, surrounded by a bunch of coffins. It is kinda embarrassing…But, he said that's, ya know, completely normal when you first start out. Like, being confused or not remembering anything. Did you guys know that?" Mario rambled on a bit, his voice a little nervous.

Elsword smirked lightly, shrugging his shoulders. "That didn't happen to me," he replied to Mario, taunting the other male.

Mario blinked, a small frown appearing on his face before it quickly morphed into a smile. "Big deal. It happens to everyone else. But, I'm shocked that you two were already in this. I'm glad I'm not the only one. It could get lonely…" he stated, letting out a forced chuckle, a little uncomfortable.

"Well, enough with the introductions. I believe we're about ready…" Raven stated, a small smile on his face now as he looked at the three of them.

"Oho, we're going to be doing something already? Awesome!" Mario exclaimed, still trying to cut the awkwardness from his introduction.

Raven continued. "With this many members, we can finally start exploring that place."

Aisha frowned lightly, resting her hands behind her back as she shuffled from foot to foot. "Um…You mean Tartarus?" she questioned, her voice a little quiet.

Mario lifted his eyebrow up. "Tartarus…? What's that? It sounds like some kind of dungeon in a video game…" he trailed off.

"We believe we can find the reason for the Dark Hour there. The Chairman will be giving us the details shortly in the Command Room. We want to start as soon as possible. So, when you're ready, head up over there," Raven said, ignoring Mario's comment as he proceeded to climb the staircase.

Elsword watched Raven walk up the staircase and then looked over at Aisha and Mario. "Let's get this over with. Come on Grapehead and Mr. Crybaby."

* * *

Walking into the Command Room, Aisha, Elsword, and Mario took a seat onto the various couches placed down. Lowe, Rena, and Raven were already seated, conversing amongst themselves until the three of them arrived.

Lowe scratched his head, dressed in his usual formal brown suit. "Okay, everybody's here. For a long time, Rena and Raven were the only members we had. But, that number has now jumped to five. So, starting tonight, during the Dark Hour, I'd like to begin the exploration of Tartarus."

Elsword blinked, leaning lazily backwards onto the red couch. "What is this Tartarus place? And why is it important?" he asked, letting out a small yawn.

"Imagine it as the perfect place for us to train and hone our skills. It's a Shadow nest," Raven stated, crossing his arms against his chest.

Mario placed his hands onto his lap. "Their nest, huh…?" he muttered to himself, lost in thought now as he stared at the floor.

"Raven…What about your injury? I thought you can't fight until it's fully healed," Aisha stated, tilting her head lightly to the side, her voice laced with a bit of concern.

Rena smirked at that. "Since Raven hasn't fully recovered, he'll be staying at the entrance, so don't worry, Aisha~" she said, winking at the purple-haired girl, making her slightly flustered.

"Well, I'm sure Raven won't complain, as long as you guys don't go in too far. Since we're dealing with Shadows here, it is significant that we deal with Tartarus and investigate it to the best of our ability," Lowe reassured.

Rena looked at Lowe, a small frown on her face. "What about you, Mr. Chairman? Will you be coming with us to Tartarus?" she asked him.

Lowe let out a nervous chuckle, shaking his head. "No, I'll be staying here. After all, I can't use a Formation Bond," he replied, scratching his head now.

Raven looked at everyone, his eyes narrowed. "When it is almost time for the Dark Hour, meet me outside. We'll go to Tartarus then."

Elsword stared at the ceiling, a blank expression on his face. "Sounds good. Then, I'll dismiss myself for now," he said to the small group around him. Pushing himself off of the couch, he left the Command Room, and headed for his own room, wanting to rest before midnight.

* * *

Once it was 11:10 or so, the entire SEES group except for Lowe headed outside. No one spoke even as they boarded the monorail, the train quivering as it continued down the railroad. The silence was awkward, but no one broke it, all lost in their own thoughts. After the monorail came to a stop, they exited the train and walked for another five minutes, stopping once they reached Gekkoukan High School.

Mario was the first one to speak. "Uh…This is the place? This is Tartarus?" he exclaimed, a look of shock cast onto his face as he looked from Raven to Rena.

Raven pulled out his phone, checking the time. "Just wait…The Dark Hour is coming," he answered, pushing the phone back into his pocket, looking back at the school.

The creepy green color lit up the sky, the crescent-shaped moon shining in the distance, the familiar odor of blood instantly creeping into their noses. The school started to shift, the image of it flickering as it started to grow. The building tilted lightly, gears and springs erupting from nowhere. What was once Gekkoukan High School was now a very tall tower, the very top grazing the wispy clouds in the atmosphere.

Rena stood in front of the school gate, gazing at the rest of them now. "This is what we call Tartarus. It only appears in the Dark Hour, a labyrinth that we need to explore. But, with this many members now, I'm sure we can do it~" she said, her voice cheerful as she smiled at them.

Mario, on the other hand, was not used to this at all. "W-what are you talking about? What happened to our school? Where did it go!?" he exclaimed.

Raven scratched his black-colored hair, clearing his throat. "Once the Dark Hour passes, Tartarus reverts back to our school. However, what matters is what's inside. The Shadows. Even if we can't find the answer to the Dark Hour, we can at least train ourselves and get stronger," he stated, excitement clear in his voice.

"Don't get excited now, Raven. You'll stay at the entrance dear~" Rena taunted him, poking him on the forehead, which only got him flustered.

"I-I know! You don't have to keep reminding me!" Raven retorted, looking the other way as he crossed his arms against his chest, glancing at the ground now.

Elsword blinked, watching the entire scene unfold in front of him with silence. _So, this is Tartarus. It does seem like this place would have a connection to the Dark Hour. I just wonder how. It's a bit strange when a school turns into some type of labyrinth and is nest for glob monsters that want to kill you._

Mario voiced his thoughts. "Why'd our school turn into a giant tower, though!? I have an MMO club here! It can't be infested by shadows," he rambled.

"We already said that everything will be normal again after the Dark Hour ends. As for why the school turns into Tartarus…" Raven trailed off, silence answering Mario.

"…You don't know either?" Mario inclined, having calmed down a bit, his voice a little more quiet as he silently started to grasp the situation.

"No…" Rena answered, pouting lightly, looking at the giant tower in front of them, her green eyes glittering with mystery.

Aisha shuffled lightly from foot to foot. "I'm sure it's complicated…But, we can find the answers now that we're going to explore it and all. It'll be an easy task!" the purple-haired girl announced, trying to relieve everyone.

"Alright, let's stop moping around here like a bunch of dorks. Let's go," Elsword told the rest of the group. Unlatching the gate, he pushed it in and proceeded to enter Tartarus. The inner room was a giant circle, pillars holding up the next floor. A set of stairs led to a large opening to what Elsword suspected was the way to actually enter the labyrinth.

Aisha followed Elsword in, the others following her as well. "This place is a little creepy…" her eyebrows scrunched up lightly at the small pools of blood scattered around the floor.

Elsword smiled lightly at her, shrugging his shoulders. "Oh, what's wrong? Is this too scary for a little princess like you?" he taunted Aisha.

A small red color came onto her cheeks as she slapped Elsword's head. "S-shut up! And stop it with the tough guy act! It's annoying!" she retorted.

The red-haired boy rubbed his head. "What act? I'm just better than you," he replied. Aisha trembled lightly in anger, attempting to slap him again, but was stopped.

"Can you two stop it!? Now is not the time to argue. We're on a time table here," Rena's voice emitted, her voice serious now, her gaze cold enough to stop both of them in their tracks. Seeing that they stopped, the small smile came back onto her face. "Good~"

Raven stood by the staircase, his back turned on the entrance of the labyrinth. "We'll let you three get a feel for this place. Go take a look around."

Aisha's eyes widened slightly. "Um…Just us three? You two won't be coming with us?" she exclaimed, a little shocked by the sudden announcement that the three of them would be going in alone.

"You don't have to go very far. It'll be fine~" Rena reassured them, her voice sweet and melodious, calming Aisha down slightly.

Raven continued. "We're going to appoint a leader in case something does happen once you three enter," he added, looking at the three of them expectedly.

Mario raised his hand, a sudden smug look on his face. "Me me me! Pick me!" he exclaimed, wanting to prove himself in light of the new situation that was presented to him.

Raven, not even hesitating, looked at Elsword. "You're in charge. Keep them safe."

Mario narrowed his eyes, lowering his hand. "Why him!? He doesn't even look like a leader!" he shouted.

"But, he did fight them before…And he's really powerful," Aisha admitted, glancing at Elsword before looking away from him.

"While that may be the case, I do have another reason for electing Elsword leader. Can you two set aside your fear and use the Formation Bond as easily as he can?" Raven asked, pulling the silver gun out of its holster and placed it onto his head, his eyes not even quavering as he did so.

Mario lowered his head, not shutting up while Aisha didn't even speak. "These are Shadows. If you can't use the Formation Bond, you will die. It's as simple as that," Raven added.

"I know. You don't have to go lecturing me. I know what I have to do," Aisha snapped back, although her purple irises reflected both fear and uncertainty.

Elsword, still looking around Tartarus, stopped. Beside the staircase was a familiar blue door. The key that Igor had given him shone in his pocket, urging him to enter it. Not saying anything, he trudged forward, opening the door and walked in, a bright light flashing.

* * *

As the light died down, Igor and Elizabeth greeted him. Elsword was in the Velvet Room. He had approached the world in his dreams of his own accord. Smiling lightly to himself, he looked at the two of them. "Sup," he stated, taking a seat in one of the velvet chairs.

"I've been waiting for you. The time has come for you to nurture your power. The labyrinth that you are about to venture into, holds many mysteries and secrets. But, how did it come to be? Why does it exist? Why is it there? You cannot answer these questions as of now, but you may be able to do so in time. That is why, to prepare you for the hardships that you will encounter, you must know the nature of your own power," Igor started, his voice calm and serious.

Elsword leaned lazily back in the chair, placing his tilted head onto the open palm of his hand, his crimson eyes narrowed slightly. "The nature of my power…? What are you talking about, old man?"

Igor continued. "Your power is unique. You can compare it to the number zero. While it is empty, it holds many possibilities, possibilities that you can adapt to and use. You can use multiple Formation Bonds. When you are placed in a corner with no way out, when all seems lost, you will see the face of possibility, and you will awaken to it. Your power will grow as you strengthen your own bonds. Please remember that. My own spare time will be scarce. But, do come again of your own accord. As our guest, you will be welcome here," he finished. Closing his eyes, a bright light emitted and the Velvet Room vanished.

* * *

Elsword blinked, the entrance room of Tartarus blitzing into his vision. His crimson eyes settled on Aisha and Mario, who were both waiting for him. "Let's go Grapehead and Mr. Crybaby," he said to the two of them, climbing the steps to the gaping hole.

"Stop calling me that!" Aisha and Mario both shouted, following Elsword up the steps into the labyrinth, walking into the darkness.

"Be careful you three~" Rena called out, watching them vanish. She looked at Raven, blinking. "Do you think they'll be okay?" she asked him.

"If they have Elsword with them, they should be fine. We shouldn't worry too much," Raven replied, closing his eyes while Rena nodded, drawing her attention to a book that she had brought along with her.

* * *

The first floor of Tartarus was nothing like Elsword expected. A checkerboard marble floor stretched below them, walls of glass panels standing next to them. There were multiple paths that they could take, but the most obvious thing he noticed was the constant factor of blood in the area. _Why is there so much blood in the Dark Hour…? That doesn't make any sense._

Aisha stood close by to Elsword and Mario, her Evoker held tightly in her hands. "I hope I don't get lost in here…" she trailed off, looking around Tartarus.

"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, nothing could possibly go wrong," Elsword replied, his face a little smug. He held his Evoker loosely at his side, ready to awaken his Formation Bond when it was needed.

Mario blinked, pacing around the new area a bit. "This isn't that bad. I don't even see any Shadows," he announced, peering down another passageway.

"That's because we just entered, you idiot! We still have to be careful," Aisha said to the two of them, walking forward slowly.

Elsword rolled his eyes, taking the lead. "Remember, I'm the leader. Follow me," he commanded them, taking the straight path. That's when he saw the first Shadows. It was a small group of black blobs, a blue mask plastered on the very top. It didn't have the multiple hands or swords that the first Shadow he fought did, so he figured it would be a walk in the park. "Formation Bond. Arcana Fool. Come forth, Sword Knight!" the red-haired male exclaimed. Placing the muzzle of the Evoker onto his head, he pulled the trigger, his eyes glittering dangerously as power surged inside him again. His clothes changed into a plated vest, a large brown belt weaved above his white pants, brown streaks on the backside of them. A crimson sword materialized in his hand, a little lighter than his own hair. A white cross draped from edge to edge, the hilt silver-plated and wrapped in a yellow bow. _Alright, let's do this._

Rushing forward, the knight spun around, sparks dancing on the tip of his blade as he slammed it into one of the Shadow's, launching it into the air. Following with another strike, it seemed as if a meteor had formed around his blade and he crashed it into the ground, throwing the other three globs into the air. The Cowardly Maya let out a small screech, similar to the one portrayed by the giant shadow on the rooftop, but its intensity was much weaker. Weaving in between two of them, Elsword hacked away at the remaining Shadows, almost a blur as he danced around them, his sword dancing gracefully as it slashed, stabbed, and jabbed at the creatures. Skidding across the floor towards Aisha and Mario, Elsword lowered his sword, a small smirk forming on his face.

"What's wrong? I thought you two would jump in by now. Or are you two scared of using the Evoker?" Elsword taunted the two of them, continuing down the path now, whistling to himself as he scanned the area of Shadows, looking for a way to continue through the labyrinth.

"You had everything under control, dummy. There's no point in me using it if I don't have to," Aisha snapped at the red-haired male, her knuckles white as she held the gun-shaped object, following him deeper into Tartarus. Mario said nothing, walking briskly behind them.

The three of them stood close together, all mindful of their own movements. The only sound that kept them company was the pitiful wailing of Shadows in the distance and the contact made from the droplets of blood that splashed harmlessly against the marble floor. The trek through Tartarus seemed like an endless one, each path eventually blocked off or was just an intersection to more paths. After a few minutes of aimlessly walking around, they came to a stop in an open space; the only exit was the way that they had entered.

"So…Why are we stopping here?" Mario inclined, looking around the empty area, as if expecting a Shadow will pop out of nowhere and attack them.

"It's simple. I have no idea where I'm going," Elsword replied, his voice calm and blunt.

"W-what…? You've been leading us into dead ends for the last ten minutes and now you're just lost? We don't even know how to get back to the entrance, Elbaka!" Aisha shouted, hitting the red-haired male on the back of his head.

"Ouch! I don't think now is the time to argue about this," Elsword retorted back, ready to say something else before he suddenly pushed the purple-haired girl to the side. A black crow-like creature swerved by, its face shaped into a yellow crown as it spiraled above Elsword, blood sprouting out as the red-haired knight shielded Aisha from its sharp talons. Spinning around, Elsword tripped on his own foot and collapsed onto the floor, not responding. 2 more Venus Eagles followed, flying around Aisha, Mario, and the seemingly unconscious Elsword.

"D-dude, is he alright?" Mario asked Aisha, eyes a little wide, shocked that Elsword was taken out in one hit. Aisha knelt down beside Elsword, oblivious to the Shadows, and shook him lightly.

"Elbaka! You can't be out yet! P-please…get up!" Aisha shouted at him, not receiving a response. The three birds made screeching sounds and swerved at the two of them, their claws outstretched.

Elsword lay down on his floor, his eyes narrowed slightly. _The cut itself isn't bad. I just can't get up…_"HEY. I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP. CALL LIFE ALERT!" he shouted, actually still not able to move.

"Are you really joking around at a time like this? Stop joking around!" Aisha snapped at Elsword, still shaking the red-haired male.

"I REALLY CAN'T MOVE. I'LL PROVIDE MORAL SUPPORT…YOU CAN DO IT!" Elsword urged, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Mario rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding getting his entire head plucked off by the Shadow. Lifting the Evoker to his head, he let out a small sigh. "I am thou. Thou art I. From the sea of thy slumber, I call upon thee. Awaken thyself in my orb of light and bring me victory in this fight. Formation bond. Arcana Magician. Come forth, Ember Artist!" he shouted. Like Elsword, he also went under a costume change, now wearing a sort of black-colored robe that went from his neck and all the way down to his ankles. One of the Venus Eagles screeched and swerved at Mario again, who rolled to the side again, his left hand being consumed in a small ball of flame. Whisking around, he slammed his fist into the Venus Eagle, the bird letting out a wail before it flipped around, shooting a gust of wind at Mario with the flap of its wings, launching him into the wall behind him, a small groan emitting from him.

Aisha looked around at the not moving Elsword and the stumbling Mario who was exchanging blows with one of the Venus Eagles, fire and wind swirling around together. The other two flew around the two of them, chirping to each other before they flapped their wings at them, a torrent of wind shot towards them.

The purple-haired girl placed the muzzle of the Evoker onto her head, shaking lightly, but slowly pulled the trigger. I am thou. Thou art I. From the sea of thy slumber, I call upon thee. Awaken thyself in my orb of light and bring me victory in this fight. Formation bond. Arcana Lovers. Come forth, High Magician!" she shouted. A white dressed covered Aisha's body, a yellow bow right on top of her chest. Purple wrist bands materialized and black finger-less gloves wove around her hands. A staff teleported into her left hand, purple shoes replacing what she was previously wearing and her hair grew slightly, held together in a small bun on the back. White leggings came up to her dress and her purple irises became slightly darker.

Waving her wand forward, the gusts of wind evaporated into nothingness. Spinning around, she slammed the butt of her staff into the marble floor, shards of ice hitting the Venus Eagles, crashing them into the ground. Twirling her weapon in between her fingers, a small playful smirk on her face. "This may tickle…or not!" she shouted. Opening her free palm, two fireballs erupted from the black glove, engulfing the birds into a sphere of burning gas. Jumping into the air, she twirled lightly before a fiery explosion surrounded her, crisping the Eagles lightly, who quickly flew out of the explosion, still aflame.

Mario had managed to render the other bird flightless. Kneeling down to the ground, he kicked the Venus Eagle's feet from under it, proceeding to bash its face with another set of punches and kicks. Grabbing onto its feathers, Mario heaved himself into the air, his other hand resting on the top of its head as he twisted himself around, electricity now streaking across his fast as he rammed it against the backside of the Eagle, sending it toppling to the floor. Landing, he continued his assault, switching from punches to kicks as the Venus Eagle shrieked out, wailing.

Elsword slowly pushed himself to his feet, grabbing his sword as he watched Aisha and Mario fight the three Venus Eagles. _So, they actually managed to use the Formation Bond. Heh. They're pretty good. _A red aura surrounded his body, his crimson eyes now glittering lightly. Propping his blade onto his shoulder, he dashed forward, tackling one of the Venus Eagles. Stabbing his blade into the Eagle, he swung it upward, launching the Shadow into the air as he followed with a meteor strike, a burst of fire launching the bird backwards. Screeching, it sent another gust of wind at Elsword, cutting his face and hands slightly from the pressure of the wind. Closing his eyes, he dug his sword into the marble floor and leaned onto it, trying to keep his balance.

Aisha, noticing Elsword's difficulty with getting past the wind, maneuvered herself in front of him, using her new power to neutralize the wind. The other Venus Eagle flew towards both of them, the purple-haired girl teleporting out of the way as Elsword stood his ground. He slashed his sword forward, the Shadow evaporating into nothingness. Unfortunately, that provoked the other two, not that it made anything worse, being that one of them was already flightless and was being beaten to a pulp by Mario.

Elsword threw his sword into the air, grazing the winds of the Eagle. Running forward, he pressed himself onto one of the walls, and jumped off that. Latching himself onto the Shadow, he managed to catch his sword before it hit the floor and started to hack away at the Venus Eagle's back, the second one vanishing as well. Falling forward, he managed to land on his feet, his legs wobbling lightly. Aisha and Elsword both looked over at Mario, still battling the last Eagle.

Mario spun around, suddenly punching forward, a slicing wave of air emitting from his fist and crashed into the Shadow, killing that one off as well. Letting out a small sigh, he smiled to himself, looking at the other two members of his group. "I thought you fell and couldn't get up. What happened?" he asked Elsword.

The red-haired knight shrugged lightly, sheathing his sword. "It was an act. I wanted to see if you two could use your Evokers and it worked," Elsword replied, giving them a thumbs up.

Aisha rolled her eyes, waving her staff behind her as she shuffled from foot to foot. "Yeah, okay. I think you were just too lazy, Elbaka," she retorted.

Elsword lowered his hand, scratching his crimson hair. "Oh, shut up, grapehead."

A small fireball flickered in Aisha's open palm, an almost demonic smile coming onto her face. "What did you say, dummy? I'll roast you right now!"

Pulling out his sword, Elsword waved it at Aisha, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You wanna go, princess?" he inclined. Lightning flashed in the background as the two stared at each other, until Mario openly interrupted them.

"Hey, guys. I see something green here. And it's shiny. I'm going to touch it," Mario called to the two of them, his voice a little nervous, but determined. He stood in front of some type of ivory-colored portal, his finger lightly grazing the center of it. All three of them flickered lightly, a bright light flashing. When it died down, the three of them were back at the entrance of Tartarus.

Aisha blinked. "H-how did we get back here?" she asked, looking around the familiar circular room, the gaping hole and staircase next to them.

Elsword let out a small sigh, scratching his head now, reverting back to his usual self as well as the other two. "I guess that was some type of device that sends you back to the entrance of Tartarus? With how everything is, I'm not that surprised."

Rena's voice called out to them. "Welcome back! How was it~" she asked them, her voice sweet as she closed the book she was reading, her green eyes staring at them.

"It was a piece of cake," Elsword replied, placing both of his hands on the back of his head, a smug smile on his face.

Rena nodded. "That's good. However, we still do not know how deep Tartarus is. Shadows will get stronger as we go deeper in, so be careful whenever you go in, kay?" she inclined.

Mario stood next to Aisha. "Wow…I never knew I had that kinda power! But, I'm beat." he stated, staring at his own hands, clenching them slowly.

"Yeah…I'm still trying to catch my breath," Aisha agreed, clasping her hands behind her back as she tried to regain her energy.

Raven scratched his black-colored hair, a blank expression on his face. "Well, that is the effect of the Dark Hour. You will get tired easily. That is why it's important to train and get used to the power of the Formation Bond."

Rena poked Raven's cheek. "They may get stronger than you after awhile~" she teased the other male, smiling lightly at him.

Raven shrugged, looking at the three of them. "We'll see. I'm not too worried though…" he trailed off.

Elsword stood there, feeling himself get slightly more attached to the SEES group. He watched the few of them, a small smile coming onto his face. _Is this what Igor had been trying to tell me? Is this the strength of a bond created through the heart? Only time can tell…_

* * *

Chapter 3 is all done. So, I do apologize if I am getting Mario's personality wrong, but I have to change it a bit to be a bit more social/comical. Anyways, all your OC's have been accepted and I do not need anymore. Some of them may have minor roles and appear once or twice because I did get more than I needed, but I still want to fit them in. Anyways, please R&R, because it does motivate me. xD

The Cynical Asian ; Okay, that's good to hear. Happy late Independence day! xD That's good to hear.

CHANELE SOLAR SYSTEM WOLF ; Accepted. Not sure what role she will have yet though. xD

RubyCrusade ; It is good to hear you say that. ^^ Hm. I don't think you'll be that bummed about the Sword Knight. If you do continue reading that is~ And, accepted.

SerenityofStars ; A bumpy ride? Maybe…

destroyerdestroyerdestroyer ; Lo. : D. Accepted and a good day to you too. xD

MarioFireRed ; I hope I get that good of a grade. xD Thanks for the encouragement. –thumbs up-

Guest ; Thank you for the review. I do try. xD

G123u ; You keep saying these chapters are intense. xD Ah, me and my continued spelling mistakes. You gotta love those. And, who knows? You'll have to keep reading, although I'm sure that was already indicated by Igor. xD

Hitsuken ; Nah, that won't happen. Or will it? Who knows. :p

Not-Alone-Anymore ; Haha, thanks. And, I'll try not to use the word "Dance" that much. And, OC is accepted. ^^


	4. A New Power

_**The Second Shadow**_

_Celebrate life's grandeur... its brilliance... its magnificence..._

Elsword – Sword Knight/Lord Knight/?

Aisha – High Magician/Elemental Master

Rena – Combat Ranger/Wind Sneaker

Mario – Ember Artist/Blazing Boxer

Raven – Sword Taker/Blade Master

* * *

The next month was a blur. School was boring as usual, most of the teachers rambling on how no other teacher understood their subject and why they couldn't teach some specific topic or era. That was SEES's morning. They usually lounged around the dorm or went to the Paulownia Mall. Elsword, Aisha, and Mario either played games at the arcade or sang karaoke, idling their time away until midnight came. Exploring Tartarus continued to get more and more difficult as the Shadows got stronger and stronger. Rena and Raven continued to watch from the sidelines, Rena insisting that it was imperative to have outside support since the structure of Tartarus continued to change each day to their own dismay. Even after reaching the first block in Tartarus on the 23rd floor, they still found no clues or answers to their many questions. If anything, more questions arose as time passed on. Why would there be a block in Tartarus? Why can't they continue? Why do the Shadows have so many forms and weaknesses? Even Igor wouldn't answer Elsword directly, merely stating how everything will reveal itself in time. Nevertheless, time marched onward, and the full moon approached once more.

* * *

Waking up, crimson eyes stared at the ceiling of his room, the cracks and tears of cement and paint clear on the wall. Elsword had gotten used to a one-track schedule and he honestly didn't mind. Letting out a yawn, he pulled himself into a sitting position, rubbing the sand out of his eyes with his hands. Sliding over to the window, he pulled down the cover, basking in the sunlight that enveloped his body. After standing there for a good minute or so, he pulled a Gekkoukan High School uniform out of his closet and changed there, adjusting the black jacket and pants, buttoning it up to his neck. Glancing at his clock and then at his door, Elsword scratched his head and grabbed his backpack, walking into the hallway as he closed the door behind him. _I wonder if Mario is awake. _Going to the door right next to his, he banged his fist against the wooden door. "Hey, Mr. Crybaby! If you don't wake up, Rena and Aisha will hog the bathroom!" he shouted.

Mumbling in his room, Mario was sprawled out across the floor, an empty bottle of soda plastered onto his face. As usual, he had been playing Devil Survivors 3 through the night again and had somehow fallen off the chair and onto the floor. Shaking his head, he quickly jumped to his feet, Elsword's voice echoing through his room. "I know! Just wait downstairs for me!" he shouted back.

Elsword scratched his crimson-colored hair and proceeded down the staircase, stopping beside the dining table where a beautiful aroma of pancakes, scrambled eggs, waffles, French toast, and orange juice drifted. His eyes glittering lightly, he turned around the corner, finding that Rena and Raven were already awake. "Oh, you two are already awake? School doesn't start for another two hours," he said to the two of them, taking a seat.

Raven blinked, munching on a small piece of honey-glazed pancake. "It's good to wake up early. Too much sleep will make you slow," he said to Elsword, taking a sip from his glass of orange juice.

Rena flicked her green-colored hair behind her, looking at the red-haired male now. "Eat up. You must be tired from Tartarus, dear~" she stated to him, who merely nodded.

Mario, having just changed into his school uniform, placed a set of crooked glasses onto his face. Pushing a PSP Vita into his backpack, he swung it over his shoulders and left his room, noticing Aisha descending from the third floor. "Morning, Aisha-tan!" he shouted, waving somewhat awkwardly to the purple-haired girl.

Aisha rubbed her eyes, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Hm…? Oh, good morning. Were you up all night playing that game again? You do realize we have a morning assembly today, right, you idiot?" she retorted to him, stepping towards the steps that led to the first floor.

"Wait…What? We have ANOTHER morning assembly today? What for!? It's not like it's the start of the year or that anyone died!" Mario exclaimed, rubbing his head, confused as to what it could be for.

Aisha rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, Mr. Crybaby. Just try not to fall asleep again and get our class in trouble or I'll burn you to a crisp," she taunted him, proceeding down the steps.

Mario let out a small sigh. "Why does everyone call me Mr. Crybaby? I go saying I cried one at the convenience store because of the Dark Hour and this happens. At least I have my video games…" he muttered to himself, joining everyone else at the table.

Elsword and Raven had finished half of the food altogether, satisfied expressions on their faces as they both sat lazily on the couch, staring randomly at the ceiling. Aisha took a seat next to Rena, Mario taking a seat on the opposite side of them.

"Good morning you two. Are you ready for the morning assembly~" Rena questioned the two of them, cleaning up the plates and dishes that weren't being used.

Mario let out a small groan, quickly filling his mouth with food so that he didn't have to answer that question. Rena was a very academic-orientated student and if anyone in SEES forgot something important or received a bad grade, that person usually ended up in the infirmary or bathroom for a day or two due to either food poisoning or a concussion.

Aisha nodded, taking a single waffle from the plate. "Yes, I am. Do you know what it is for?" she asked Rena, tilting her head lightly to the side, the other girl shrugging lightly.

"You'll have to wait and see~" Rena answered, smiling lightly at the two of them. After the two had finished their breakfast, she gathered the rest of the plates and food and tossed them into a giant pile. "I'll clean those later. Alright, let's go everyone," she announced, dragging Elsword and Raven off the couch, who immediately jumped up.

"WHATTA VELVET IGOR NOSE ELIZBETH ABILITY!" Elsword shouted, apparently having just woken up from a dream, flailing his arms around before he pushed them to his side, staring at everyone else with a blank expression, the group of five staring awkwardly at each other.

"Why do you always say that when someone disturbs you in your sleep, Elbaka!?" Aisha retorted, hitting him on the top of his head with her book.

"Ouch! Stop hitting me with your books! They're hard cover! They hurt! And, I don't know. It's a reflex now," Elsword complained, rubbing the top of his crimson-colored hair.

"Well, if you weren't such a dummy all the time…" Aisha trailed off, interrupted by Rena.

"We don't have time for your bickering. Come on, let's go~" Rena said to them, shooing them out of the dorm as she closed the dorm behind them.

"We technically have an hour. It only takes 45 minutes to get there. We have plenty of time," Mario countered, glancing at his watch.

Raven scratched his head. "Just get to the monorail. I rather get this morning assembly over with as soon as possible," he stated. A moment passed before he noticed Rena's almost murderous glare. "Um…I mean that I just want to hear it as soon as possible!" he yelled in enthusiasm, walking briskly across the street to avoid the awkwardness of that situation. The rest of them followed, reaching the monorail in about ten minutes. Boarding the train, it streaked across the railroad to the school, the group sitting together in a small compartment as they continued to argue over trivial things.

After the monorail came to a stop, they trudged silently to Gekkoukan High School. Entering the entrance area, Elsword shook off his "street" shoes and put on his school ones from his locker, placing them accordingly in his locker. Watching everyone else do the same, he stretched his arms out lightly, another yawn escaping from his parted lips. "To the auditorium!" he exclaimed, leading the way.

Rena blinked, stopping at the door. "I actually have to go talk to a teacher about something. I'll see you guys soon. Have fun~" she said to them, leaving the group to enter the auditorium by themselves. Taking a seat in the middle, they all looked at the stage, a student representative already talking about the duties of a student and how school life should be. Elsword watched lazily, letting most of the words go through one ear and out the other, his chin placed lazily on the very top of his clasped hands.

"Now, we'll hear a word from the Student Council. Please welcome, the new Student Council President," the student representative stated, now walking off the stage. A moment of silence passed by and a few teachers even cleared their throats before a familiar green-haired girl bounded up onto the stage, a light smile on her face.

Apart from her usually cheery self, Rena's voice was more serious now. "Thank you," she announced, trudging over to the podium as she leaned over it.

"So, she did get elected. I'm not too shocked about it though…" Aisha trailed off, watching Rena with open violet eyes.

Mario scratched his head. "Why is she being so serious though? She's not usual like that around us," he wondered, looking over at Raven, who had known her the longest.

Raven watched the assembly with his full concentration, his eyes serious. "It's because this school is owned by Rena's father. She has to act accordingly in these situations."

Rena continued with her speech. "As I begin my term as Student Council President for the year, I would like to share my vision with you all. It is my belief that each of us must accept dutifully the responsibility of improving and enhancing our own school. However, change cannot happen without determination, effort, and a certain level of commitment. I'd like each of you to re-evaluate your convictions and your dreams, find your well of motivation, and continue to dig deeper. To sink into a world of imagination and paradise, without losing sight of the realities around you. That is the key to improving both your lives and the school as a whole. Thank you," she stated. Nodding her head lightly, she strode off the stage, the distinctive sound of clapping emit, as she vanished through the door.

"That was amazing. I didn't think Rena could say something like that…So, do you have any idea what she just said?" Mario inclined, scratching his head.

Elsword blinked, opening his eyes lightly. "Hm…? Oh, I wasn't listening," the red-haired male stated, letting out another yawn as he stretched his arms out.

Mario let out a small laugh, his eyes wide. "Dude…You're a rebel. If Rena finds out, you're gonna be in the infirmary for a week."

* * *

Apart from that, the rest of the school day was boring as ever. The bell chimed three times, signaling that school was over for the day. Sighing in relief, Elsword stood up from his desk, sweeping his stuff into his backpack as he swung it onto his shoulder, stepping away from the maple wood table. He glanced over at Mario, who fingers were flickering rapidly over a PSP Vita, his entire essence absorbed by the game. Letting out a small sigh, Elsword flicked Mario in the forehead, tilting his glasses lightly.

"W-whoa! You just made me lose that battle!" Mario exclaimed, a bit angry as he looked at Elsword, adjusting the glasses on his face as he shoved the gaming device back into his backpack.

Elsword shrugged lightly. "I'm sure it wasn't that important. If it makes you feel better, want to go get some ramen at Hagakure's?" he questioned the other male, scrunching his eyebrows lightly.

"Um…Sure. Why not? MMO club isn't today. Will it be just us?" Mario asked, standing up now, adjusting his backpack on his shoulder as he neared the door, wanting to leave as soon as possible.

"No idea. Hey, grapehead! Want to join us for some ramen?" Elsword shot the offer at Aisha, the purple-haired girl absorbed in some book.

"Hm…? Oh, okay. Only if you treat us though, kay?" Aisha replied, smiling lightly at the red-haired male as she trudged over to the two of them, slipping the book underneath her arm.

Elsword tufted his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, I think I can do that. Come on," he said to the two of them. Leaving Gekkoukan High School, the three of them proceeded to travel by monorail to the Paulownia Mall. The "mall" was actually just a bunch of shops bunched together in the corner of a street, but it was highly popular. On the far left was a night club, a café, Hagakure's. In the very center was the karaoke building and next to that was the arcade, followed by a jewelry and medicine shop. The police station was beside the night club as well. Four fountains were spread across the corners of the area, one large one in the center, the sound of splashing water emit as the water swished and flowed in the rock structure, the reflection and glimmer of coins on the bottom, thrown from those that have belief in water spirits and the prospect of a wish. Walking to Hagakure's, the three of them entered the restaurant, the smell of soup, noodles, and vegetables already entering their noses. Adjacent to them were a row of booths, crowded with other people. In front of them was a counter that stretched from one side of the restaurant to the other, chairs laid across it. In the top left corner was a small television with the local news on, a reporter discussing the increase of Apathy Syndrome cases. Taking a seat next to the counter, Aisha and Mario sat next to him.

"Three Hagakure Bowls please," Elsword stated to the waitress behind the counter, who merely nodded, jotting something down on her notepad. "Um…Anything else, sir?" she asked the red-haired male, who shook his head, watching the waitress strut off to the kitchen.

Aisha laid her head on the counter, looking at the television. "School is so boring. The teachers don't even say anything helpful. I just have to keep reading the textbook…" she trailed off.

"That's why I don't pay attention in class nor do I read the textbook. The only one that cares is you, grapehead," Elsword replied, placing his hands behind his head.

Hitting him on the back of his head with her textbook, Aisha glared at him. "Stop calling me grapehead, you dummy! If you don't study, you're going to fail the midterms," she exclaimed to him.

"…What? We have midterms? Since when…?" Mario cut in, looking up from his PSP Vita to the two of them, a look of pure shock on his face.

"See, this is what I'm talking about. Don't be so oblivious like him!" Aisha retorted, pointing at Mario.

"Hey, I find that offensive," Mario said, turning his attention back to his game, his fingers mashing against the buttons at an inhumane speed.

Elsword let out a small sigh. "Can you two at least try to enjoy the moment? We don't even know if we're going to Tartarus tonight or not. Before that happens, I just want a nice steamy bowl of ramen. So, you, stop nagging me. And you, stop playing your video games," he ordered, taking the PSP Vita and shoved it into his pocket.

Mario opened his mouth in protest before Elsword shoved a piece of paper into his mouth, silencing the other male for a moment or two as he tried not to choke on it. "Order's up," the waitress said, placing one Hagakure Bowl in front of the three of them. Steam drifted from the bowl, the soup a light orange color, the noodles placed at the very bottom with an assortment of vegetables and meat on the top.

"Ah, here I go!" Elsword shouted, taking his chopsticks and breaking them apart. Placing one hand on the bottom of the bowl, he started to eat, basically shoving the noodles and meat into his mouth, tactically avoiding the vegetables, his mouth opening and closing every millisecond.

Aisha stared at Elsword with wide eyes. "H-how can you eat that fast? Is that even humanely possible? What do you think, Mario?" she looked over at the other male, who was eating just as fast. Her mouth gaped open before she turned to her own food, eating at a slow pace. _I will never understand boys…_

"That hit the spot!" Elsword stated, pushing the now empty bowl forward as he leaned back in the chair, staring at the ceiling. He looked over at Aisha, who managed to finish second even though Mario was eating at the same speed as him. "Uh…What are you doing?"

"I cannot ruin the perfect symmetry of this bowl. I must finish it perfectly," Mario said to the two of them, his glasses shining lightly as he continued to maneuver through the bowl of ramen.

-One Hour Later -

Mario pushed the plate forward, finally content. "Dude, that was-"he faltered. Both Aisha and Elsword were gone. His eyes twitched slightly as the waitress trudged over to him. "Here is the bill, sir," she said to him, handing him a small slip of paper. Gulping, he pulled out a small wallet and pried it open, looking inside. It was completely empty. He let out a nervous chuckle, scratching his head as he looked at the waitress. "Well, you see…"

* * *

At the very start of the Dark Hour, Rena sat in the Command Room, fiddling with a small rectangular device, letting out a small sigh. She leaned back on the couch, her green hair tied neatly into a long ponytail as she tapped her own cheek.

Raven trudged in, a coat placed on his shoulder as he looked at the green-haired girl. "You're still at it? I don't think we need it," he inclined, standing in front of the monitor.

She shrugged lightly, smiling at the device and then to Raven. "We don't know when the enemy will appear. It's better to be prepared than sorry~" Rena exclaimed softly, still tinkering with the device. Her eyes slowly widened, a frown forming on her face. "Huh…? It's a Shadow!" she stated, peering closer into the device.

"What!? You found one!?" Raven inclined, starting to look at the monitor, his eyes narrowed slightly. "The readings here seem fine though…" he trailed off.

Rena shook her head. "The reading is too big. I've never seen anything like this…Except for a month ago. Right when Elsword transferred here. However, the reading is bigger this time…"

Raven smirked lightly. "If it's one of those, then this will be fun. I'll wake up the others." Trudging over to the monitor, he clicked a button and leaned in. "Everyone report to the Command Room!" he shouted, his voice portrayed throughout the dorm.

* * *

At the sound of Raven's voice, Elsword immediately woke up. _So, we're doing something today? Ugh. I shouldn't have eaten that ramen so fast. _Pushing himself off of the bed, the red-haired male stood up, stretching his arms out before he grabbed his Evoker, buckling it to his holster. He strolled to the staircase on the second floor and proceeded to climb until he reached the fourth floor, walking into the Command Room.

Aisha and Mario had already gotten there before him, standing together with Raven and Rena. Elsword scratched his head, joining them. "So, what's the problem?" he questioned, letting out a yawn.

Rena blinked, still looking at her little contraception before turning to face the three of them. "We've detected a Shadow outside of Tartarus. Since it has such a high reading, I suspect it's another big one. So, we have to defeat any Shadows as quickly as possible. Normal people may not know about the Dark Hour, but if they wake up and see half of the city destroyed, that can be a problem…" she trailed off.

Mario adjusted his glasses, the clear frames shining lightly. "In other words, we just need to kick some butt, right? Well, count me in!" he exclaimed, a proud expression on his face.

Aisha rolled her eyes, crossing her arms against her chest, letting out a small sigh. "It's not that easy, you idiot!" she retorted to the excited male, shoving him lightly.

Rena looked over at Raven, who was still standing by. "Raven, you'll stay here and wait for the Chairman to arrive. You have to explain the situation to him," she ordered the black-haired male.

The built-up teenager scrunched his eyebrows up, a look of surprise consuming his face. "Are you kidding!? I'm going! A shadow with a level as huge as this needs to be taken care of as quickly as possible. We can't leave it to these three. They're still getting used to their power," Raven reasoned.

Rena shook her head lightly. "You still need to recover; dear~ You'll just be a hindrance to them in your current condition. Have faith in them. They're ready," she countered, turning her face to look at the three of them now.

Raven let out a small sigh, looking genuinely disappointed. "…Fine," he replied, leaning back onto the monitor, crossing his arms against his broad chest. He looked over at Elsword. "You're in charge. Keep them safe."

Elsword placed his hands behind his head, nodding. "Of course. You can count on me," he replied. Rena stepped forward, glaring into his crimson eyes. "Do your best~"

Mario shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot. "Heh, looks like you're stick playin' leader again…Sucks to be you," he said to the red-haired male, a bit of sarcasm and crudeness in his voice.

"You should let the three of them go first. If you plan on providing backup out there, you'll need time to get ready, right?" Raven inclined.

The green-haired girl nodded, trudging back to the monitor. "Yes, that's right. You three go without me, but wait for me in front of the station. I'll be there as soon as I can," Rena stated.

Aisha bobbed her head up and down, clasping her hands behind her back. "Got it. Alright, let's go, you dummies!" she shouted, running out of the Command Room, the door left open.

"You do realize I'm leader, right!?" Elsword bellowed after the purple-haired girl, running after her, quickly followed by Mario, closing the door tightly behind them as they made their way towards the station.

Raven stared at the ground, closing his eyes. "Do you really think they're ready?" he asked Rena, a hint of concern portrayed in his voice.

Rena, still getting her things ready, hummed a small tune before answering. "I think they are. After all, Elsword does seem to be a bit different from the two of them. His Formation Bond seems to be a bit special, don't you think~" she asked him.

"…Yeah."

* * *

Sitting at the very steps of the station, the stain of blood dripped across the stairs and the floor, the odor almost sickening. The pale greenness of the environment was sluggish and off, almost as if the Shadow was affecting the Dark Hour. Elsword and Mario sat next to each other, Aisha pacing around them impatiently, her hands clasped behind her back again. "Where is she?" she inclined, her violet irises narrowed.

Elsword shrugged, his back pressed against the stairs as he looked up at the ivory sky. "Stop being such a sour butt, grapehead. Be patient. She'll be here soon," he taunted Aisha, smiling smugly at her.

"S-shut up, Elbaka! I'll crisp you!" Aisha shouted, pulling her Evoker out and placed the muzzle on her head, threatening to pull the trigger.

Mario drank from a water bottle, gulping down the savory liquid. "You shouldn't waste your energy out here, Aisha-tan," he said to her.

"S-stop calling me that, you dummy!" Aisha retorted, taking the water bottle from Mario's hands and dumped the liquid onto him, drenching his shirt.

Mario blinked, not even fazed by it. "You know, that wasn't very nice," he stated to Aisha, a blank expression imprinted onto his face as he adjusted his glasses.

Elsword let out a small chuckle, shaking his head lightly. "This is the beauty of our trio…There's another full moon tonight," the red-haired male stated, looking at the giant rock in the sky.

A sound of a motorcycle drew their attention, making Elsword and Mario jump to their feet. A white-colored motorcycle rolled by, Rena driving it, a helmet placed on her head. There was a device attached to the back of it, making beeping noises. Rolling off the transportation vehicle, the green-haired girl pulled off the helmet and placed it on top of the motorcycle, smiling cheerfully at the three of them. "Sorry for the long wait. I'll be providing support from here. The three of you will be going after the Shadow. The Shadow is located inside a monorail that is a few feet away from the station. You'll have to walk on the tracks to get there." Rena explained.

Mario scratched his head, a frown etched onto his face. "Um…Are you serious!? Isn't that dangerous?" he inclined.

Rena leaned back onto her motorcycle, her hands keeping her balanced as she rested them onto the vehicle. "No electronic equipment is functional during the Dark Hour, including the monorail. Don't worry~" she said sweetly to them.

"If that's the case, how is your motorcycle working?" Elsword questioned, poking it, wondering if it didn't use electricity or something like that.

She smirked lightly. "It's special. Okay, if anything changes, I'll alert you three immediately. Let's get started~" she commenced the operation, sending the three of them onto the railroad from the station.

* * *

The railroad was divided by five separate beams that were integrated into the actual road. A few feet away was a second railroad that was set up for the opposing monorails that were either returning or arriving to the station. The full moon shone palely in the lit up sky. Clouds drifted by slowly, basking the moon in a thick fog. The city was clear from the railroad, the distinction of distant yet clear buildings emit. Tartarus embodied an eerie green color, the labyrinth smiling almost demonically at them. Rena's voice emitted from a small transmitter that Elsword had taken, strapping the device to the buckle of his pants. "There's a monorail just ahead of you. You have to stop the Shadows before they harm anyone inside. Good luck~" she said to them.

"Alright, let's get this job done. Come on," Elsword stated to the two of them. He pulled his Evoker out of the holster, now running forward, Aisha and Mario following him as they reached the monorail. It was a sleek black-colored train, parked in the middle of the railroad.

Aisha came to a stop, also pulling her Evoker out as she rested her hand onto the monorail. "This is it…right?" she questioned, looking at the other two.

Elsword shook his head. "Nope, we got the wrong one. I clearly see another monorail just ahead of us," he taunted the purple-haired girl, his crimson eyes staring at her.

A small redness came to Aisha's cheeks and she swiped her hand forward, attempting to hit Elsword with the Evoker, but ducked right before it made contact. "S-shut up, dummy! I'm just making sure!" she exclaimed to him, flustered now.

Mario stood by the entrance of the monorail, looking at the two of them. "Err…Are we going to go in or not?" he asked the two of them.

Aisha cursed under her breath and pushed Mario aside, wrapping her handles around the small metal ladder that led to the door in the monorail. She started to climb, before she suddenly perked up, looking down at the two of them. "…Don't look up."

Elsword let out a small chuckle, letting Aisha and Mario enter the monorail first before he followed suit. The inside of the monorail was as same was ever, apart from the glowing red coffins and blood scattered around. The train's seating arrangement varied from benches to chairs, the chairs in the front and back of the car, and the benches in the middle. A long open pathway created a space in between the middle, pushing the benches right below the windows.

Aisha looked around; her purple eyes half-lidded. "Wait…We're not at a station, but the doors are wide-"she faltered, the sound of locking doors emitting loudly as all the doors suddenly shut, leaving them trapped inside the monorail.

Mario jumped to one of the half-closed doors, prying his fingers into it as he tried to keep it open, but failed, the doors slamming shut there as well. "It won't open! This reminds me of situation in this game I played…" he trailed, rambling about this other train incident with a boss fight.

Rena's voice came through the transmitter, still clear. "What's wrong? What happened? Is everyone alright?" she asked, her voice still calm and light, although there was a more urging tone in it now.

"It looks like we've been trapped inside. We can't open the doors now. The Shadow must know that we're here." Elsword replied, scratching his crimson hair in annoyance.

"Be ready for anything. Proceed with caution and stay safe~" Rena exclaimed, the transmission still on in case anything changed in the next few moments.

Aisha glanced from Mario to Elsword, trying to keep herself under control. "W-what do we do…?" she asked, a little shocked at the situation.

The red-haired male started to walk forward, keeping his Evoker out. "We continue. We have to destroy the Shadow before anything bad happens. We can worry about getting out later," Elsword stated.

Proceeding into the next car of the monorail, it was as empty as the first, apart from the coffins of course. There was no Shadow activity and other than the doors shutting tight, nothing had really happened. The three of them trudged to the other side of the monorail, all alert and cautious, almost as if a Shadow would jump out of nowhere and attack them. It's what they suspect, since that's what happens in Tartarus all the time.

"It's so quiet it's creepy…Where are all the Shadows?" Aisha wondered out loud, staying close to Elsword, Mario in his own little world at the moment. That's when a Shadow dropped out of nowhere, landing on the ground in front of them, causing the monorail to shake slightly. It's head was a sphere ring, connected to a small golden box in the middle that connects to a bottom round green body. Four tentacle legs were attached to it and as quickly as it came, it merely turned around and went into the next car.

Mario stepped forward, trying to go after it, before Rena stopped him. "Something is a bit off. The Shadows are acting strangely and their readings are different than the ones I see normally in Tartarus…" she trailed off.

Mario adjusted his glasses, waving his Evoker around. "But, if we don't go after it, we're going to lose it!" he shouted back, half-through the door to the next car already.

"…Elsword, you're in charge there. What do you think?" Rena asked, her voice quiet, as if she was testing him on what he would actually do.

The red-haired male let out a small yawn, shrugging lightly. "In a situation like this, we should be careful. It could be a trap," Elsword replied.

"We can beat that thing easily! I'll do it myself!" Mario retorted, running into the next car, slamming the door shut behind him as he ran after the Shadow.

"Watch out! Behind you!" Rena's voice came out from the transmitter. Whisking around, two more Shadows like the one before dropped down behind them, causing the ground to vibrate lightly. Elsword immediately shoved Aisha to the side, jumping to the left to avoid being tackled by the Shadow. Pressing the muzzle of the Evoker to his head, he pulled the trigger, his eyes glowing blue before they reverted to their usual crimson color. "Formation Bond! Arcana Fool! Come forth, Sword Knight!" he shouted, the familiar costume and sword materializing onto him.

Aisha tumbled lightly across the monorail floor, hitting the edge of the bench. Fumbling with her Evoker, she placed it onto her head, pulling the trigger. "Formation Bond! Arcana Lovers! Come forth, High Magician!" she exclaimed, the staff popping into her open left hand as her school uniform transformed into a white dress. Teleporting to her feet, she slammed the butt of her staff into the floor, shards of ice forming above her as they crashed into the Shadow, launching it towards Elsword.

The red-haired knight whirled around, a small tornado forming around him as red streaks swirled around him, his sword continuously cutting into the two Shadows as he spun around. Skidding to a stop, Elsword kicked the first Shadow away from him, a little dizzy from spinning around so much.

Electricity crackled in Aisha's fingertips as she shot a beam of lightning at the Shadow that Elsword had kicked, electrocuting the Shadow until it burst into several black blobs that showered the monorail. Blinking, she looked at Elsword. "Behind you, dummy!" she exclaimed.

Not even turning around, Elsword slashed his sword behind him, eliminating the other Shadow. Letting out a small sigh, he shook his head, looking at the door that led to the next car in the monorail. "That idiot."

Aisha lowered her staff, trudging over to the red-haired male. "This is probably what the Shadow was trying to do in the first place. If it can separate us…" she trailed off.

Rena's voice echoed again. "Since Mario went off on his own, we don't have a choice now. You have to go after him or you'll be picked off one by one. No worries though. You two can do it~"

The mage stomped the ground, gritting her teeth in annoyance. "What were you thinking!? Putting all of us in danger just so you can be the hero. Idiot!" she ranted.

"From what I can scan, I think Mario may be a few cars ahead of you. Proceed with caution~" Rena continued, oblivious to Aisha's complaining.

Elsword took a few steps forward, beckoning for Aisha to follow. "Come on, we're running out of time. Mario may be an idiot, but I still want him alive," he told Aisha. The door slid open and two more Shadows floated out, screeching at the two of them.

"Really!? Get out of our way!" Aisha retorted, starting to shoot a ball of fire at the two Shadows before another Shadow dropped down, looking like a cross with a red and blue balance. The fireball consumed the Heat Balance, not affecting it as it absorbed the fire in its entirety. "W-what…?" she stuttered.

Elsword swerved forward, a thin red aura outlining his body. Stabbing his sword forward, the tip of the blade embedded itself into the Heat Balance's body. Swinging upward, he launched the Shadow into the air and swirled around again, forming a small red tornado as he danced swiftly around the three Shadows. Rolling to the left, he kicked his legs outward, pushing the two floating Shadows towards Aisha, who shot two fireballs at them before launching into the air, twirling around as she enveloped them in a cloud of fire, burning them to a crisp.

"Come on!" Elsword ordered Aisha, running into the next car of the monorail, Aisha following quickly behind him. Looking around, it was obvious that Mario wasn't in that car either. There weren't any Shadows either. It seemed as if Mario had either destroyed them or had chased them into the next car. Letting out a small sigh, Elsword headed towards the next compartment, sword trailing behind him.

"Hey, Elbaka! Did you say anything to upset him? Mario's been acting a bit differently and knowing you, you probably did something," Aisha accused him, glaring at Elsword now.

"As if! He's probably in the moment right now or something," he replied.

"Oh, and who gave that piece of advice to him…? Next time, keep your thoughts to yourself!" Aisha snapped at Elsword, bonking him on the back of his head with her staff, a distinctive thud emitting.

"Now is not the time for this, grapehead!" Elsword retorted. Slamming the door to the next compartment open, both he and Aisha ran into it. Mario was battling with several Shadows, already in his Ember Artist form, his fists sparking and blazing with fire and electricity as he moved gracefully between the Shadows, dodging and exchanging blows with them.

"There he is! And he's surrounded! Wonderful!" Aisha shouted, eyes twitching lightly. "Mario!" she yelled, both her and Elsword trudging over to him.

"I've got it under control! No need to interfere! I'm awesome! Take this, you freak of nature!" Mario replied. Jumping into the air, he created a small sonic boom, a slash of wind knocking down on of the Heat Balances he was fighting. Landing on the top of one of the floating Shadows, he launched an electric-charged punch at it, knocking it back into the windows, a loud screech emitting from it.

Elsword shook his head lightly, a blue aura now enveloping his body. Dashing forward, he slammed the hilt of his blade into a hand-shaped Shadow, flipping his sword over so that the blade also sank into its body, black liquid gushing out from the wound. Placing his shoe onto the Shadow, he kicked, shooting it backwards into the door behind him. Catching his sword, he stabbed forward, destroying it.

Aisha bashed the Heat Balance with her wand, knowing that her magic wouldn't destroy it. Rolling to the side, she avoided a fireball that erupted from its red balance that hung on the top of the cross. Slamming her wand onto the ground, shards of ice formed around her and consumed the floating Shadow, but had no effect on the Heat Balance.

Mario finished it off. Sending a quick jab of punches, he sent it into the air and brought his foot down onto the top of the cross, knocking off the red balance. His left fist, now blazing with fire, slammed into the body of the Shadow, dispersing it with his little combo.

Aisha glared at Mario, almost burning him to a crisp. "See, you dummy! That's what happens when you don't follow orders!" she snapped at the glass-wearing male. "..Are you okay?" she asked a moment later, her voice a little softer.

Mario adjusted his glasses, smiling lightly. "O-Of course I am. I was fine on my own. I didn't need your help," he stated smugly.

"Excuse me!? You look beat and exhausted. Know your limits, you idiot!" Aisha retorted, in rage mode again, now beating Mario over the head with her staff.

That's when the monorail shook lightly, shuddering until it started to move, proceeding down the railroad, completely functional despite what Rena had said about such devices not working during the Dark Hour. The three of them stumbled lightly, attempting to regain their footing as the monorail increased its speed.

"Whoa, why are we moving!? I thought this thing couldn't work during the Dark Hour!" Mario exclaimed, looking around the moving monorail.

Rena's voice emitted from the transmitter. "The Shadow may have the monorail under its control now…" she trailed off, leaving a small silence.

Elsword scratched his crimson hair, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Well, this doesn't look good at all. I blame Mario," he stated, looking over at the other boy.

"H-hey, what did I do?" Mario questioned back, hanging onto one of the benches as the monorail gave another lurch, the train moving at a faster speed now.

Rena's voice, now urgent, came back on. "If we can't stop it, it'll crash into another train!"

Aisha's violet irises were wide, holding her staff tightly. "W-what!? What are we going to do then!?" she shouted, a little fear outlined in her voice.

"Stay calm~ There's a strong presence in the front car. It must be the Shadow we're after. If you defeat it, it should stop the monorail. You have approximately eight minutes before the crash. Good luck~" Rena added. At that, more Shadows came through from the next car, hissing at the three of them.

Mario let out a sigh, clenching his fists together. "What kind of messed-up ride is this!?" he shouted, engaging the three Shadows that had assaulted them.

5 minutes. That's the amount of time they had left before the monorail would crash into another train. The three of them stood in front of the door that led to the top car, all exhausted at that point, having fought a small army of Shadows to reach there. Aisha and Mario were worn out the most while Elsword leaned on his sword, panting lightly. The monorail had gained speed and momentum during those three minutes. That only made fighting and keeping balance even more difficult, since they had to avoid crashing into a window or chair from the sudden lurches that the monorail occasionally did. A static noise flickered before Rena's voice was transmitted to them again. "Okay, the main Shadow is there. Do your best~" she said to them, signing off.

Elsword readied himself, glancing at both Aisha and Mario. "Let's go," he said to the two of them, bursting through the door. At the very center of the car was their target. The Shadow's appearance was genuinely female, one side white and the other black. A grand ball's mask was attached to her face, waves of her hair attached to the monorail, controlling it. It let out a childish laugh, smirking lightly at the three of them, taunting them.

Mario was the first to speak. "What the hell!? Is this the boss? It looks so jacked up!" he exclaimed, his mouth gaping a little as he stared at the Shadow.

"No time to complain. We need to take it out!" Elsword shouted. Swerving forward, the red-haired knight launched himself into the air, slashing his sword down at the Shadow. The Priestess merely raised its hand off, deflecting the sword and slammed him back into the ground painfully. Struggling to get up, he clenched his teeth together, using his sword to pick himself back up.

Aisha twirled the staff in between her fingers, her fingers crackling as lightning sparked from tip to tip. Pointing her outstretched palm at the Shadow, she shot a bolt of electricity at it, electrocuting it. Barely harming it, the giant Shadow clapped its hands together, summoning two floating Shadows that whirled forward, towards Aisha.

Mario stepped in, his fist ablaze as he knocked the first floating Shadow into the other one, a small smirk on his face. "Rejected!" he exclaimed, before the hair of the Priestess wrapped itself around him, slamming him into one of the chairs. It clapped its hands again, summoning another wave of Shadows. Groaning, he pushed himself up to his feet, rolling to the side to avoid being smashed by the hair again. 4 minutes.

Aisha let out a small yelp, slamming the top of her staff into the ground, sending more ice shards at the Shadows and Priestess, trying to hit them all at once. Stunning the underlings, she shot a ball of fire at them, engulfing all of them until they turned into dust.

Elsword coughed, shaking his head lightly, a now red aura enveloping him. "Let's try this again…" he muttered to himself. Launching himself into the air, he cut downwards at the Shadow's face, making contact, but only enraged it. Twirling to the side, he avoided getting smacked by the flick of its hair. He grabbed onto it, moving along with the hair as it flew from place to place, before he eventually lost his grip and fell onto the monorail floor again.

Mario jumped in, attacking the Priestess with an assortment of ice, fire, and lightning punches. Dancing around it, he climbed the Shadow, thrusting his fist forward as a small gush of wind erupted from it, hitting the Shadow in the chest. It let out a small wail, using its hand to smack him into the window, a thin line of blood now trailing down his face. "H-how do we beat this thing!?" he shouted, struggling to stand up now, his hands ablaze again. 3 minutes.

Aisha continued to switch between lightning and fire, not bothering with ice since the Priestess seemed to nullify that element completely. "It seems to be affected by fire the most, but it has a lot of defense!" she yelled back. Ducking, she avoided the swipe of its hair, but failed to see the hand that clasped itself around her. The Priestess picked Aisha up, now squeezing her petite form. The purple-haired girl coughed, blood trickling down her mouth as the pressure started to increase as she started to scream in pain now.

"Aisha!" Elsword shouted. Trying again, Elsword started to attack the very base of the Shadow, whirling around as the familiar red aura enveloped his small tornado, hitting the Priestess rapidly, starting to weaken it, however, Elsword was already exhausted. Stopping, he was pushed back by two more floating Shadows that were summoned, tumbling on the ground, a bruise on his forehead. The Priestess let out a laugh, squeezing Aisha even more, emitting an even shriller and louder scream.

Mario surged forward, eliminating the two floating Shadows with two jabs, looking at the Priestess now. "W-what do we do-"he faltered, now shoved to the side by the Shadow's hand. He skidded across the monorail floor, managing to throw the hand off of him, but his eyes were now dim. 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Elsword panted, his vision blurry, Aisha's screams making him want to close his ears in protest. "W-what the hell do I do?" he murmured to himself. _Do you seek more power? _His eyes fluttered open, surprised by a voice. It belonged to the mysterious and creepy boy or at least he thought so. The image of the jail-suit male flickered in his mind, a small smile on his face. _You have the ability to change forms. Have you already forgotten? All you have to do is let the power flow…_Elsword blinked, dropping the sword onto the floor. Pulling out the Evoker, he placed the muzzle onto his head, his eyes blazing. "I am thou. Thou art I. From the sea of my soul, I call upon thee. Awaken thyself in thou spirituality and commend me with the ways of a magician. Formation bond. Arcana Judgment. Come forth, Magic Knight!" he yelled. The previous costume and weapon he had shattered into blue particles, dispersing slowly. He now wore a red shirt with a white vest, showing his midriff. His crimson hair was spiky now, silver-plated gloves enveloped around his hands. Black sleek pants rolled down to his shoes, a red line streaking down the center of it. A sword materialized in his hand, similar to his Sword Knight one, but the colors were reversed. A surge of power beamed around him, the Priestess wailing at his new form, dropping Aisha immediately. Blitzing forward, he caught the purple-haired girl, placing her next to Mario. "Take care of Aisha. I can handle this now," he said to the other male, who nodded, trying to regain his energy.

The Magic Knight trudged forward to the large Shadow, who clapped its hands, summoning two more floating Shadows. Elsword stuck his hand forward, a small portal opening next to him, a large blade popping out, stabbing the two underlings and the Priestess. The floating Shadows exploded into nothingness, the black blobs splattering onto the Priestess, who was still up and about. Its hair slammed down towards Elsword, who rolled out of the way, a small crater left on the monorail floor. Running forward, he jumped into the air, stabbing the ground, four crimson glowing blades erupting from the floor, all piercing the Priestess. Roaring, the Shadow slapped its hand forward, making contact with Elsword's sword. He was slowly pushed back until the hand made contact with his body. Launched backwards, his head slammed against a window. Elsword let out a small groan, dizzy now as he brought himself up to his feet, a small trek of blood rolling down into his eyes. Shaking his head, he gritted his teeth, a red aura now enveloping him again. The Priestess let out a laugh, swaying from side to side, black liquid gushing from several areas on its body, indicating that it was really weak. _One more hit should do it…_Letting out a small sigh, he steadied himself and made his way towards the Shadow again. Almost immediately, it swung its hair at him. Dropping to the floor, it narrowly avoided his head and he jumped back to his feet. Elsword, now at the base of the Priestess's body, slammed his sword into the ground again. A swarm of rotating crimson blades started to spin around him, continuously hitting the Priestess, over and over again. A loud screech emitted and the Shadow dissolved into nothingness, the job done. Exhausted, Elsword reverted to his original form, placing his hands onto his knees as he tried to breath.

Mario stood up, helping Aisha up as well, who had recovered. "Did that do it…? Hey! Why are we still moving!" he shouted, looking around the monorail, the train still speeding down the railroad.

Aisha let out a small cough, but seemed unscathed at the moment. "We're going to fast! Pull the breaks or something or we're going to crash, you dummies!" she retorted, bonking Mario on the top of his head with her staff.

Mario swayed from side to side lightly, rubbing his head. "H-hey…Don't hit me in the head when I'm in this condition," he said to Aisha, almost falling down.

Rena's voice emitted from the transmission. "You need to hurry! You have ten seconds left before the monorail crashes into the train!" she shouted.

Mario scratched his head, starting to run around in circles. "I don't know how to stop this thing!" he shouted, flailing his arms around, dropping to the ground, Aisha quickly following.

Elsword glanced from Mario to Aisha and quickly darted, forward, trying to get to the command room to start the breaks, the timer counting down in his head. He fumbled for the breaks, his crimson eyes scanning every button and lever stretched across the board. And then, everything flashed white.

* * *

Woo. That's chapter 4 done. Sorry for the wait. I got sidetracked on the path of nature and cookies. xD Anyways, regarding OC's. They will appear, just not yet. This will be a pretty length story, so don't worry about not having an appearance or a major role. Although, you guys did swarm me with forms. -.- Anyways, that's that. xD

MarioFireRed ; Alright, that helps, I think. I don't know if you mind the glasses or not, but I think that fits his basic character profile in this story. xD Well, Tartarus is the overall dungeon and they have to reach the top to find what's going on. xD

Light12XV ; Not sure if you're the one I PM'ed or not. If you are, then we already discussed the OC and everything, so… -thumbs up-

The Cynical Asian ; Elsword will continue to troll them in this story. More or less that is. xD And, don't worry. Most of the OC's will have major roles, apart from 2 because I got too many. xD

SerenityofStars ; Tartarus is a labyrinth. Not a dungeon. Silly Serenity of Stars.

Anon ; Haha, thanks for the review. Those compliments make me feel better.

Not-Alone-Anymore; Well, it was accepted. ^^ Haha, thanks. I'll try to. xD

CrimsonBloodReaper ; OC accepted and I'll consider that. Thanks for the review.

Guest ; Well, you'll have to wait and see. xD

destroyer x 3 ; No problem and thanks. I'm glad to hear that. xD


	5. Cherry Blossoms

**Cherry Blossoms**

_~Only courage in the face of doubt can lead one to the answer~_

_Elsword – Sword Knight/Lord Knight/Magic Knight/Rune Slayer_

_Aisha – High Magician/Elemental Master_

_Rena – Combat Ranger/Wind Sneaker_

_Mario – Ember Artist/Blazing Boxer_

_Raven – Sword Taker/Blade Master_

_Chung – Iron Paladin_

* * *

The white light died down, the monorail suspended in motion. The other train was right in front of them, a measurable distance of a foot separating them. Elsword was huddled over the control panel, his hand fastened around a lever. The red-haired male let out a small sigh of relief when he realized that he had initiated the breaks correctly. Whisking around, he trudged back to Aisha and Mario, who were still huddled tightly on the floor, imitating the tornado drills done in school as they waited for the crash that never came. Violet and clear eyes opened slowly, both fluttering open as they both rose to their feet.

Mario looked around, sweating slightly. "W-we stopped…" he trailed off, resting his hands onto his knees, adjusting his glasses as he did so, relaxing a bit.

Rena's voice echoed from the transmitter. "Is everyone okay!?" she exclaimed, worry and concern portrayed in her voice, the device giving little static noises.

Aisha clasped her hands behind her back, nodding slowly. "Yeah…We're all fine somehow…" she replied, a little distant as she still recovered from the fight with the Priestess. She was shaking lightly, using the monorail's wall to steady herself.

Mario whirled around, sniffing himself, a not amused expression cast onto his face. "Dude…I'm drenched in sweat. I have to take another shower now when I get back to the dorm…" he complained, scratching his head.

"I'm glad you're all safe~ I'm sorry that I couldn't do much from here…But, that's it. The Dark Hour is about to end and I don't see any more Shadow readings. You're all done, so come back home~" Rena said, her voice sweet as the transmission cut of completely.

Elsword placed his hands onto the back of his head, his crimson eyes narrowed slightly. "Roger," he stated simply, making his way to leave the monorail, but Aisha's gaze stopped him. "What…?"

"…How did you know that was the brake?" the purple-haired girl asked, tilting her head slightly, actually curious about it.

Shrugging lightly, he smiled lightly at them. "I don't know. Maybe it was just natural instinct. Or it could have been pure luck. The only thing that really matters it that we're all safe right…?" Elsword exclaimed.

Aisha let out a small sigh, glancing away from. "This is the second time you saved me. I feel useless," she retorted, biting her lip.

Elsword stepped forward, placing his hand onto Aisha's head. "Don't worry. You are!" he stated, confirming the statement.

"Why you little…Why do I ever feel grateful to you? You're just an arrogant jerk!" Aisha shouted, shoving the red-haired male away from her, her face a little red now.

The red-haired male held his hands in surrender. "I'm only joking. You two did great. Let's just hope next time we fight a Shadow, it's not on a moving monorail…" he trailed off, rubbing his backside.

Mario bobbed his head up and down, following the two of them as they started to leave the monorail, heading back to the dorm. "You can say that again! I'm never using public transportation again!" he announced.

Aisha scrunched her eyebrows up, a faint smile forming on her face. "How are you going to get to school then, you dummy?" she questioned Mario, who immediately frowned.

"Huh. I forgot about that. Curse you public transportation! You have foiled me this time…" Mario trailed off, slumping forward in defeat.

"You really are a dork…" Elsword stated to Mario, shaking his head from side to side, letting out a small laugh.

"Elbaka! Stop calling him names and let him be! We're all already exhausted," Aisha snapped at Elsword, glaring at him now with sharp purple eyes.

"I think Elbaka classifies with calling someone a name. You're a hypocrite," Elsword said to Aisha, flicking her on the nose, smiling smugly at her.

Mario adjusted his glasses, the specks shining lightly. "You two should get a room."

Both Elsword and Aisha shifted their heads to Mario, their eyes gleaming. "Shut up!" they both exclaimed, the bond between them growing ever so slightly.

* * *

Both Raven and Lowe were in the Command Room back at the dorm, waiting for the news of the mission. Raven sat down on one of the couches, his hands clasped around his face, his eyes closed. The Chairman paced around the room, biting his nails at the same time.

The monitor flashed lightly, a static noise emitting again, a transmission coming through. "This is Rena. We finished the mission and the Shadow is defeated. We're returning home now~" she said, the transmission cutting off there.

Lowe let out a sigh of relief, scratching his gray-colored hair. "That's good to hear. I thought that something would happen. I was at least expecting a train crash…" he trailed off, stroking his chin now.

Raven opened his eyes, narrowing them slightly. "I still do not understand something. This doesn't make any sense. What would the Shadows want with a monorail? What do they even want?"

Lowe shrugged lightly. "I'm not too sure. Shadows have never done something this extreme before. I'll be investigating the matter later on."

"Does that mean…It's begun?" Raven questioned, looking up at the Chairman, a flicker of worry flashing in his eyes, his fists clenching somewhat.

"It's not possible to say, but we shouldn't assume anything. We need to conduct further study on the Shadows first. However, we cannot let them have the first move all the time. We will have to explore Tartarus faster now…" Lowe trailed off.

* * *

Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. Hours turned into days. Days turned into weeks. School became nothing but a gathering and meeting place for SEES, other than Aisha and Rena who continued to dominate their individual classes. Tartarus visits were quick, efficient, and significantly more dangerous. However, despite making it to the second block, the endless labyrinth gave no clues as to why the Dark Hour occurred and the Shadow's plans. Apathy Syndrome continued to rage on, affecting citizens and rendering them insane or slightly crazy. Igor provided no answers, saying the same thing over and over again. _Listen to your heart. It will show you the way. The bonds you make will remain strong, leading you through whatever is to come. Please remember that. _On that note and continuous pressure from Mario, Elsword eventually joined the MMO club.

The red-haired male sat at a desk, his fingers outstretched over the keys of a laptop, pressing keys as he continued to play the game that Mario had introduced to him, Innocent Sin Online. It was an interesting game with demons and mythology, but he found the whole club thing to be a bit of a joke. For starters, there were only eight members, and the only thing they did was play the game and discuss strategies with each other, and even that conversation was brief and distant. Out of all the people Elsword could get into a crowd with, he found a group of anti-social nerds, apart from Mario, who constantly shouted in joy when he leveled up or achieved something significant. Elsword let out a small sigh, staring at his screen, his avatar standing still as he stared at his inventory. He had named his character Messiah and surprisingly, the name wasn't taken. It may be due to the small player base the game already had. "Hey, Mario. What time do you want to head back to the dorm? It's getting late…" Elsword inclined, glancing at the time on the lower right of his screen. Not receiving an answer, he looked over his laptop, his eyes scrunched up a bit.

Mario was completely absorbed into the game, his glasses shining lightly as his fingers moved at a rate much faster than the other guys, a gaping smile on his face. "Come on, come on, come…" he trailed off, leaning his face closer to the screen as he continued his mini-boss battle or whatever he was doing at the moment.

Elsword scratched his head, logging off his own avatar. Shutting off the laptop, he shoved it into his backpack and swung it over his shoulders. _I knew joining this club was a bad idea. _Standing up, he trudged over to Mario, looking at the other male's screen, some type of war between demons occurring. "You're really far in the game."

Mario still didn't respond, his face practically glued to the screen. Initiating some sort of attack combo, the result screen came up, indicating his win. "Woo! Called it!" he shouted, raising his hand into the air, proud at his victory. "Alright, next stage…"

Elsword placed a hand onto his friend's shoulder, shaking him roughly now. "No, I don't think so. We need to get Aisha and head back to the dorm. Come on, you nerd," he retorted to the other male. Shoving him aside, he logged off for Mario and tossed the laptop at him. "Pack up."

"Dude…You're such a killjoy. But, I guess you're right…Whoa! Look at the time! Aisha's going to kill us!" Mario exclaimed back, shuffling around, packing up his things.

"I'm just going to blame you. It should work," Elsword shrugged, smiling lightly as he headed towards the door, adjusting the backpack strap lightly.

"That's not fair! I always get blamed!" Mario shouted back, jogging over to Elsword, hopping on one foot as he did so, stumbling lightly.

"Oh, you two are leaving already?" a girl's voice emitted, a black-haired girl stood up, walking over to the two of them. She wore the traditional school uniform, her eyes blinking.

"Yes, we're late for something. We'll see you at the next meeting," Elsword said curtly.

"That's okay. My name's Maya, in real life and all the MMO's I play. We need to play together next time," Maya said, holding her hand out to Elsword.

The red-haired male blinked, reaching out with his own hand, clasping it around Maya's. Shaking their hands, he removed it. "Elsword. See you next time," he responded. Exiting the club room, he looked at Mario, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Who's that?"

"Maya? She's the club leader. She's actually nice and all. She just doesn't talk because everyone else is antisocial and all…" Mario replied, adjusting his glasses.

"Ah, like you? Makes perfect sense," Elsword said, resting his hands onto the back of his head, staring at the ceiling. Proceeding down the hall, they stopped at the Student Council room. Aisha and Rena were both part of the student council, Rena being the leader and Aisha the secretary. "You're up."

Mario let out a groan, opening the door slightly, only to be greeted with a hardcover book to the face. "Ugh!" he shouted, recoiling backwards, falling down. "W-what the hell!?" he exclaimed, placing his hands over his face.

"Hm. That looks like it hurt. Sup," Elsword greeted, looking over at the purple-haired girl, who was now standing at the doorway, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Honestly, you two were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. I should have just left without you two idiots," Aisha snapped, joining them in the hallway.

"Not my fault. Mr. Crybaby here was all absorbed in his MMO again," Elsword reasoned.

Mario said nothing, mumbling a few curses under his breath as he rose to his feet. He brushed off his shirt, wiping away the dust particles that clung to his shirt, a frown on his face.

"Anyways, how did you two do on your midterms?" Aisha questioned, looking at the two of them with wide violet irises, a book tucked underneath her arms.

"I did fine. I don't think I aced it like you, but I'm sure I passed," Elsword replied, walking down the steps of the staircase, proceeding to the first floor of Gekkoukan High School. The school was quiet and empty. Apart from the MMO club and the Student Council, everything else was already closed down for the day.

"I failed it with passing flying rainbow colors," Mario stated, slumping forward. "I think I can raise my grade if I do well on the finals…But, that's so much work," he complained, scratching his head.

Aisha rolled her eyes, shaking her head, her purple hair swaying from side to side. "You two should really try and study sometime. It helps, you know. You can't be doing whatever you two are doing after high school, you dummies," she lectured them.

Elsword shrugged. "I'll worry about that later. It's not like I'm worried about my future. If anyone should be, it's this guy," he exclaimed, placing his hand on Mario's shoulder, shaking him lightly.

"Can we not talk about our futures right now…?" Mario trailed off, getting a little uncomfortable with the situation, glancing at the ground, drumming his fingers against his backpack.

Switching the conversation to a lighter topic, the three of them boarded the monorail, the train streaking down the railroad towards their dorm. They sat in a small compartment, sitting next to each other on one of the benches, idling around until the train came to a stop. Elsword was the first to exit the monorail, followed by Mario and then Aisha, all making their way to the dorm. Trudging through it, Raven was the first one to greet them, sitting back at the dining table.

"Welcome back, you three. I'd like to tell you that I am now fully healed. I'll be accompanying you three through Tartarus now," Raven informed them.

Mario adjusted his glasses, looking at the black-haired male. "Congrats!" he exclaimed, smiling awkwardly at Raven, resting his arms at his side.

"I need to start training again. I haven't been doing anything for the past month," Raven added, crossing his arms against his chest, glancing down at the table as he conducted a training regime in his head.

"You shouldn't be so rash. We wouldn't want you injured again. That wouldn't be really helpful," Elsword taunted him, taking a seat next to Raven.

Aisha nodded. "For once, I agree with the dummy. You should be careful," she said to Raven, clasping her hands behind her back after she placed her book down onto the coffee table.

Raven shook his head, smiling lightly. "No, I've wasted enough time. I also want to see you three in action. Besides, we have found another person with the potential."

Mario scratched his head, tilting it to the side somewhat. "R-really…? That's awesome!" he shouted. His voice then shushed to a low whisper, a sly grin creeping onto his face. "Is it a girl?" he pressed.

Aisha's purple eyes twitched slightly, a small sigh escaping from her parted lips. "Mario…" she trailed off, rolling her eyes at him.

"Actually, Mario's right. It is a girl. She's a junior that goes to our school. Izanagi Imperium," Raven stated, glancing at the three of them, expecting them to know who she was.

Aisha raised her eyebrows. "Izanagi? She's that girl in 2-E. I've heard about her. I don't see her often…" she trailed off.

Elsword stroked his chin. "Well, it'll be good to get more members. More people to command!" he exclaimed. The red-haired male looked around, eyes narrowed slightly. "By the way…Where is Rena? Did she come home yet? She wasn't at the Student Council room."

"Well, we couldn't see her. Aisha hit me in the face with a book before we could look inside," Mario complained, glaring at the purple-haired girl.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Good times…" Elsword nodded, smiling to himself.

Aisha rolled her eyes, shaking her head again. "Shut up, you dummies. You deserved it. You two were extremely late! You should be glad that I didn't do worse," she threatened them.

Raven scratched his head. "Rena came in just before you three. I believe she's studying in her room right now. Any reason?" he inquired.

Elsword shook his head. "No, not really. Since we went to Tartarus yesterday, we're doing nothing today, so I'm going to head on over to my room. See you guys later!" he waved them off.

Whisking around, he pushed himself off the chair and tufted his hands into his pockets. Walking up the staircase to the second floor, he proceeded down the hall and entered his room, the familiar small space coming into view. Closing the door behind him, he plopped down onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. _Well, today was productive. Midterms, MMO club, Raven is all healed, and we're getting a new teammate. I think I heard the name Izanagi before too…_Shrugging it off; he pulled the covers onto himself, thinking he'll rest for the day. Yesterday's Tartarus visit had exhausted him and with everything that happened today, there was no way he was going to listen to Aisha's rant about education or play MMOs with Mario. Sleep was the best option and so, Elsword closed his eyes, feeling himself slowly drift off into unconsciousness as a vivid world of imagination and illusion greeted him.

* * *

"Good evening," a familiar voice rang out. Crimson eyes blinked, the world around him groggy and disorientated. Glancing at his alarm clock beside the bed, he noticed that it was shut off, as well as his other electronic devices. The eerie green color of the Dark Hour brightened up his room and Elsword let out a small sigh. _This guy really has to wake me up now…? _He looked over the covers, seeing the pale boy, wearing the same stripped jail-suit. He sat on the edge of his bed, a small smile plastered onto his face. "I came to see you again, as I promised. How are you?" he asked.

Elsword didn't bother moving this time. "I'm good. Now, please, get out of here. I'm tired," he said to the pale boy, letting out a small yawn, finding it difficult to keep his eyes open.

"That's not very nice. Now…The moon will be full again in two days. Your next ordeal will be upon you, so do be careful," the little child say, letting out a small laugh.

"O-ordeal…?" Elsword croaked out, still fighting to stay awake. He shook his head lightly, sitting up now, pressing his back against the base of the bed.

"Yes, your next ordeal. Prepare yourself…I'll come again," the mysterious boy exclaimed. His entire image flickered, vanishing from the spot, leaving Elsword alone in his room again, confused and tired.

Elsword let out a small sigh, scratching his crimson hair. "Man. Why does all the weird stuff always have to happen to me…?"

* * *

Dong, dong, dong. The bell rang melodiously, signaling the end of the school day. Other students rustled and rummaged around, hastily leaving the classroom. A thin beam of sunlight streaked through the window, glaring defiantly at one red-haired male. His chest rose and fell with the slowness of his breath, his hands clasped together underneath his face, supporting it. It was the day of the full moon and despite having slept all day yesterday, his encounter with the mysterious boy had drained Elsword of all his energy. So, he dozed off in class, sleeping peacefully, soft and gentle music emitted into his ears from the headphones strapped around his head. The sound of the chiming mechanism went over his music, arousing him. "Hm…?" Elsword groaned to himself, slowly lifting his head from his hands. Dots blackened out his vision before they slowly ebbed away, the view of the entire almost empty classroom now clear.

"Look who finally woke up! Did you rest well, sleeping beauty?" Mario teased Elsword, standing in front of the crimson haired male's desk, his arms crossed against his chest.

"I guess so. Are you my knight in shining armor, who's going to free me from this prison? Take me away!" Elsword taunted back, smiling smugly at the other male, raising his hands up.

Mario shook his head, pushing his glasses onto his face awkwardly. "N-no, I don't think I will. But, did you hear the rumors going around?"

Elsword scrunched his eyebrows up. "Rumors? What are you talking about?" he inclined, lazily rubbing his eyes before he stood up, stretching his half-asleep body.

Mario continued. "A girl from 2-E went missing a few days ago. They found her lying on the ground in front of the school gate this morning! Nobody knows what happened and I heard she's in the hospital."

Elsword blinked, tufting his hands into his pockets, feeling the fuzzy deepness of them. _2-E…Isn't that the class Izanagi was in? _"Do you know who it is?"

Mario shook his head. "No. The rumors aren't consistent or anything," he said back, shrugging his shoulders.

Aisha trudged over to the two of them, holding a book in her hands. "Are you two talking about the rumor?" she questioned, not taking her eyes off the page.

"Hey, Aisha-tan. This is a difficult case, even for me, Mario, the ace detective," Mario stated, adjusting his glasses accordingly on his face.

Aisha rolled her eyes, smiling lightly. "Yeah, right. More like Stupio, ace defective," she retorted to him.

"H-hey, that hurts!" Mario exclaimed, slumping forward somewhat, scratching his head now.

Elsword blinked, looking over at Aisha. "Where have you been?" he asked the purple-haired girl, cranking his neck from side to side, distinctive cracking sounds emitting.

"I was talking to the teacher about an assignment, dummy. Do you two want to head back to the dorm? We've been late for the past few days…" Aisha trailed off, closing the book at last.

"Hm…Sure. I don't think we're going to Tartarus today either. I'm still really tired," Elsword admitted, stretching from side to side as he walked over to the door. The sound of laughing instantly stopped him from exiting the classroom, drawing his attention to two girls next to the teacher's desk in front of the classroom. The red-haired male listened quietly to their conversation.

"So, I pretended to take a picture with my cell phone and she started to freak out and attack me, acting like it was the end of the world. You should've seen the look on her face…It was priceless!" the first girl said.

"…Where is that voice coming from?" the second girl inclined, looking around the classroom, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Voice? I don't hear anything," the first girl stated, crossing her arms against her chest, scrunching her eyebrows lightly at the second girl.

The two girls continued to talk. Elsword shook his head lightly, walking out of the classroom, a blank expression on his face. "Come on guys. I need to talk to Raven and Rena."

* * *

Back at the dorm, the entire SEES group sat around the dining table, exchanging information about the recent rumors and ghost stories that were going around the school. It seemed as if the incident could relate to the Shadows or Tartarus, but they still couldn't make any reasonable correlations. The conversation came to a standstill, a moment of silence passing between them.

Mario spoke up. "Did anyone check the messages on the student notice board? There's another rumor about an angry spirit from this one ghost story that had to do with the girl that was unconscious in front of the school gate."

Aisha blinked, shuffling from foot to foot awkwardly. "H-hey! Nobody actually believes that a ghost did it, right…? It has to be a Shadow…" she trailed off.

Rena drummed her fingers against the surface of the table, looking intently at Mario. "We don't know for sure if it is a Shadow or not. It could just be an incident that occurred at the school grounds."

Elsword scratched his crimson-colored hair, letting out a small sigh. "I find this whole thing stupid. It would have been better to keep the whole thing down as the girl being sick or something."

Rena smiled lightly. "We can't control gossip or anything like that for that matter. Anyways, what is the ghost story about~" she asked Mario, blinking her ivory-colored eyes at him.

Aisha slammed her hands against the table, a little flustered. "W-why do we have to worry about a ghost story? It's probably made up! Why bother with it!?" she exclaimed, obviously not wanting to hear it.

Raven rested his head onto his hand. "I'm interested. Go ahead and tell us what it's about."

Mario smirked, dimming the lights down. Leaning forward onto the table, he started to speak in a mysterious voice, taking a flashlight out and turned it on, shining the light on his face. "Good evening. Welcome to Mario's Believe it, or Don't. There are many strange things in this world...One rumor has it that if you get caught at school late at night, by yourself, you will be devoured and eaten by a ghost that roams the halls! Yesterday, this friend of mine…Let's call him Bob…He said to me that he saw something strange. He sounded serious, almost desperate, so I asked him what he saw. Bob said it was the girl in 2-E and he claims that he saw her go to the school on the night of the incident. He was as white as a sheet and he insisted it was true. Then, the truth finally hit me. It was so obvious. That ghost must've tried to make her its dinner! And that's why she was found lying on the ground by the school gate! I broke into a cold sweat, a bit frightened, a chill running down my spine. What if the ghost was still there, haunting the halls, waiting to eat its next victim!? Yes…There are many strange things in this world…Believe it or don't," he finally finished, shutting off the flashlight and turned the lights back on.

Rena blinked, looking at Raven, trying to hold back her laughter. "What do you think, Raven?" she asked the black-haired male, her eyebrows scrunched up lightly.

Raven scratched his head, a small sigh escaping from his parted lips. "That was an interesting story, but I think you're wrong. The rumor spread so fast because that wasn't the only victim. We were too caught up in Tartarus and the Shadows to really pay attention, but there were three victims. It's even more troublesome that the three of them were friends and hung out together. Based on other rumors, they also got in with a bad crowd and stayed out late. You know the place behind Port Island Station? It's there. If you three really want clues, I suggest going there, but watch yourselves. The crowd there is dangerous. As for me, I'm going to go train. See you guys later," Raven said to the three of them. Standing up, he left the four of them there, leaving the dorm.

Rena watched Raven go, turning to look at the three of them. "It's your decision since we aren't going to Tartarus tonight. I would accompany you, but I have to attend a meeting with the Chairman. Best of luck~" she said, leaving as well.

Elsword rested his hands onto the back of his head, looking at Aisha and Mario. "Well, I'm up for anything. Do you two want to go investigate?" he asked the two of them, his crimson eyes blank as they stared at them.

Aisha nodded. "I don't see why not. We're always taking orders and all. We should lead for once!" she exclaimed.

"Err…I don't know. I heard bad things about that place…It'll be crazy to go there," Mario reasoned, shuffling awkwardly from foot to foot, glancing at the ground uncomfortably.

"Well, you don't have to go if you don't want to, Mr. Crybaby. But, Aisha and I are going," Elsword replied. Standing up now, he stretched his arms out, glaring at Mario now.

"…I guess I don't have a choice then, huh? If anything bad happens, I'm blaming you two," Mario retorted, crossing his arms against his chest.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go," Elsword commanded, the three of them leaving the dorm now.

* * *

The alleyway behind Port Island Station was worse than expected. The smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol drifted around the area. Garbage and broken glass were sprawled across the dirtied floor, the concrete jagged and cracked. Sewage pipes ran across the other wall, yellow liquid dripping from the interconnections. Teenagers were sitting or standing around the area, a negative vibe flowing around them. The alleyway was a bit like the Dark Hour, although everything was dull and brown instead of a pale green. The three of them trudged farther into the dark abyss, the teenagers throwing them evil glares. One of them, standing next to a staircase, his hands tufted into his pockets, glared at the three of them. A beanie wrapped around his head, his pale face hidden by his long brown hair. He wore a black shirt and jeans. "…The hell?" he inquired.

His buddy, wearing a leather jacket, smirked. "Check out those rags…They're from Gekko High," he exclaimed, standing up lightly now, cracking his fingers.

Mario gulped, standing behind Elsword. "On man…This is worse than I thought. We're gonna get pummeled…" he trailed off, a single drop of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

Elsword glared at them, his hands tufted in his pockets. "Relax," he whispered to Mario, unfazed by their looks, appearance, or words. The two delinquents stepped forward, staring at the three of them.

"Hey, I think you're in the wrong place," the one with the beanie said, his voice a little irritated, as if he would start attacking them right there.

"Uh…" Mario trailed off, not knowing what to say. He adjusted his glasses, clearing his throat, shuffling awkwardly beside Aisha and Elsword.

The two of them laughed, stepping closer to the three of them. "You don't belong here…Get it? I suggest you get outta here before it gets ugly. So, beat it, Four-Eyes."

"F-Four-Eyes? Oh, ha-ha, you're talking to me…" Mario stuttered, taking a small step away from the two of them, intimidated by the situation.

Aisha stepped forward, her own purple irises flickering dangerously. "We don't need permission from you idiots to be here," she said to the two of them.

Mario shifted his head to look at Aisha, sweating even more now. "H-Hey! Are you nuts!? These guys will pulverize us!"

Aisha rolled her eyes. "Don't be intimidated by these people! They're nothing but punks!" she retorted.

The guy in the leather jacket scrunched his eyebrows up. "What was that?" he pressed on, taking another step forward to the purple-haired girl.

A girl on the side closed her cell phone, cheap eyeliner decorating the top of her eyelids and lashes. "She just called us punks. Let's get 'em. Who cares where they're from!? We'll post some pictures that will make her daddy cry!" she shouted, laughing.

Aisha shuddered at that remark, taking a step back, eyes narrowing slightly. "These people are the worst…" she trailed off, more angry than scared.

The leader of the gang stepped forward, adjusting his beanie. "You should really learn when to shut that trap of yours. I feel pretty sorry for you, Four-Eyes. What a pain…" he trailed off. He stepped forward, punching Mario in the stomach.

"Ugh!" Mario shouted, slumping down to his knees, his glasses falling off his face as he breathed heavily, not expecting to be punched.

Aisha's nostrils flared lightly. "Mario!" she shouted. Glaring at the lead delinquent, she swiped her hand forward, intending to slap him, but was instead stopped, the beanie-wearing teenager now holding her wrist tightly.

"Oh, so someone wants to play, huh…?" he asked a little deviously, his eyes glinting dangerously as he took a step closer to Aisha, his other hand reaching for her, before another hand stopped him.

"Don't touch her," Elsword stated, his hand clasped around the other male's, slowly twisting it to the side, his eyes hard and cold. Pushing backward, he launched the leader backwards into the pavement. The leather jacket teenager ran forward, aiming a punch at the crimson-haired male's face. Swerving to the side, Elsword raised his knee into the guy's chest and kicked him backwards as well. "I suggest you all leave before you make me mad," he added, his voice hushed to a low whisper, sounding almost maniacal.

"Oh, does someone want to die now!?" the leader of the small gang exclaimed. Pressing his hands onto the ground, he lifted himself up, pulling a small knife out of his pocket.

"That's enough," a deep voice emitted from behind them. A male with very long cream-colored hair stepped forward, the hair reaching the small of his back. His cerulean-colored eyes glared at the delinquents. "They didn't know what they were getting into. I'll make sure they leave. Alright…?"

"Who do you think you are!?" the beanie-wearing male yelled at the newcomer, running at him. The knife shined brightly in the light of the sun, the sharp weapon streaking forward as he slashed it at the newcomer. The cream-haired male moved an inch to the side, avoiding the complete hit and slammed his body forward, crashing into other male, launching him backwards onto the ground.

The one wearing the leather jacket gritted his teeth, looking from his friend to the blue-eyed male. "Go to hell, Chung. You're from Gekko High, too, aren't you!? I thought you were one of us…"

Chung smiled lightly, shaking his head. "One of you…? I don't think that's possible. I may be a part of this side, but I am not like you," he stated simply.

The leader picked himself back up, dusting off his clothes. "You just crossed the line! You think you're going home alive!?" he shouted at Chung, raising his fists.

Chung nodded. "Yes, I think I'll be returning home shortly, thank you very much. And if you would like to try me, please come forward," he said carelessly to them.

The other male blinked, shaking lightly. "F-forget this!" he exclaimed, running in the other direction, followed by his small gang, leaving Elsword, Aisha, Mario, and Chung alone in the small alleyway.

Mario slowly picked himself back up, picking up his glasses as he did so. Adjusting his glasses, a small sigh escaped from his parted lips. "Oh man, that was awesome! If you didn't come, we would have died!"

Elsword scratched his crimson-colored hair. "I think I was doing fine…" he trailed off. "But, thank you though," he expressed his gratitude to Chung, nodding in his direction.

Chung looked at them, his deep blue eyes narrowed slightly. "This place isn't for you. I suggest you leave as soon as you can," he said to them, turning to the side, ready to leave again.

Aisha rushed forward. "W-wait! We didn't come here just to play around or something! We came here for a reason!" she announced to him.

Chung stopped, letting out a small sigh. Turning around, he tilted his head, looking over them. _Were these the three new members that Raven told me about? _"Did Raven tell you to come here?"

"No, he didn't" Elsword lied, debating whether or not if he should answer the question truthfully or lie. He chose the latter.

The cream-haired male nodded. "What do you want to know? About that ghost story?"

Aisha blinked, surprised by Chung's answer. "Y-yeah…How did you know…?" she questioned him, clasping her hands behind her back.

Chung continued. "It's a rumor. The three victims who were hospitalized were here, talking about all the things they'd done to a girl named Izanagi."

Elsword narrowed his crimson eyes. "You mean Izanagi Imperium from 2-E? She was getting picked on?" he asked, his thoughts going back to what he had overheard at school, with the two girls and the camera phone incident.

"Hmm, that's right. The rumors say that it is Izanagi's spirit that did it. She hadn't been home for a week, supposedly missing, and so many people suspect she's dead," Chung added, closing his eyes for a moment before reopening them.

Mario's eyes widened in surprise, his mouth gaping a little. "A-are you serious!? I thought she was out sick or something!" he exclaimed.

"…Does Mr. Edoka know something about this? After all, he's the homeroom teacher for 2-E…" Aisha proposed, glancing over at Elsword and Mario now.

Chung frowned lightly, standing up now. "I get it, Raven. You're still trying to make up for the past. It's you who can't let go…" he whispered to himself. "That's all I know. I'll be leaving now. Don't come here again," he said to the three of them, now starting to trudge to the left.

"Thank you. You're a good guy," Elsword told Chung, who stopped for a moment, but continued walking, soon leaving their sight. Elsword looked at Mario and Aisha now. "Well, that left me with only more questions. So, we have one thing left to do…We are confronting Mr. E tomorrow after school."

* * *

As planned, Elsword, Aisha, and Mario had all met up at classroom 2-E, deciding to interrogate him and see if they can get any more information on the matter concerning the three victims and Izanagi. Aisha walked in first, taking lead. Inside the classroom were three people; Rena, Mr. E, and one of the two gossiping girls from before. She was sobbing lightly, her face in her hands, her brown-colored hair messy and all over the place.

Aisha blinked, looking at the green-haired girl. "Oh, why are you here, Rena?" she asked the other girl, a bit surprised to see her there.

"Same reason as you~" Rena replied, her voice sweet and light as she continued to stare at the sobbing girl. Although her voice was merry, her eyes were not, hardened and focused. "Mr. Edoka, I'm here to ask you about a student named Izanagi Imperium."

The brown-haired girl raised his face, eyes wide. "I-I never thought it'd turn out like this…Izanagi…She always looked so irritated and frustrated whenever I gave her a hard time…It was fun. We were just messing with her like always…We took Izanagi to the gym…and locked the door from the outside. That night…One of my friends returned to school alone, afraid that we were going to get in trouble. But, she never came back…And then she was found lying on the ground by the gate next morning! I went back to the gym and unlocked the door to let Izanagi out, but she wasn't there…That freaked us out. We all started looking for her and we all started to disappear…" she explained the whole situation, taking pauses.

Rena listened closely, looking over at Mr. Edoka. "During this time, you registered all of Izanagi's absences due to illness. You must have been aware of her actual status. What was your reason for hiding this?"

Mr. Edoka scratched his head. "I was thinking of the students, of course. We have to consider the future of everyone in the incident. Also, I wouldn't want her records to be stained by an incident like this. Even her parents agree!"

Rena's green eyes flashed, a small frown forming on her face. "So, you protected your career and ignored your responsibility as a teacher. How…pitiful," she said to Mr. Edoka, making the teacher stop talking altogether. Rena let out a small sigh, looking over at the still sobbing girl. "Did anything unusual happen to your friends before they went missing~" she asked her, her voice calmer and kinder now.

The brown-haired girl nodded. "Y-yes…They all heard a voice. Calling their name…Right before they went missing," she said to Rena, closing her eyes now.

Rena nodded. "Thank you~" she stated. Walking back to the three other SEES members, she crossed her arms against her chest. "Follow me to the Student Council Room. Raven is already there. We need to discuss this now," she said to them. Looking back at Mr. Edoka and the other girl, she blinked her green eyes. "Thank you for your time. Stay safe~" she told them, now leaving the room.

* * *

Having gathered in the Student Council Room, Aisha shut the door behind them, locking it. The five of them formed a small circle, facing each other as they reflected on the situation. Izanagi Imperium had been locked in the gym and was now missing. The rumors about the ghost story had been surrounding her and the three victim's interaction with Izanagi. The only concern now was how they were going to find and rescue her.

Rena cleared her throat, smiling lightly at them. "Tonight, we will infiltrate the campus. Our mission is to find and rescue Izanagi Imperium," she announced to them, her voice light and calm.

Mario scratched his head, his eyes scrunched up somewhat. "I am a bit confused. That girl from before said that they couldn't find her. Is she somewhere in the school…?"

Aisha continued, also confused with the mission. "At midnight, this place turns into Tartarus…I don't see the point of that. We're just be running around Shadows the entire time," she argued.

Elsword scrunched his eyebrows up. "You need to think for once, grapehead. The answer is obvious," he exclaimed to Aisha.

The purple-haired girl glared at Elsword, gritting her teeth in response. "Shut up, Elbaka! If you know the answer, why don't you tell us instead of just criticizing me, you dummy!?" she shouted back at the red-haired male.

"That's enough, we don't have time for this," Raven interrupted them, glaring at the two of them, his arms crossed against his chest.

Rena continued. "Izanagi had wandered into Tartarus. She was still trapped in the school when the Dark Hour had occurred, so she's still there."

Mario adjusted his glasses. "B-but, that was a few days ago! She can't have survived that long without an Evoker!" he retorted.

Raven stroked his chin. "Not necessarily. Tartarus only appears during the Dark Hour. Time functions differently in there. It may have been a few days for us, but it could have been only a few hours for her. So, the possibility of her living is still there."

Mario still argued. "The Dark Hour is pretty brutal. We can barely handle an hour. How is Izanagi supposed to last a few!?" he countered back.

Raven narrowed his eyes, waving his hand forward. "Are you just going to let here die, then!?" he shouted at them, frustration emit in his voice.

"Then I have an idea. Let's enter Tartarus how Izanagi did. We'll be in the school before midnight, before the Dark Hour begins, in the gym," Elsword proposed.

Raven nodded. "I will not stand by and do nothing. If there is a chance to save her, I will take it. I will go by myself if you guys don't want to come," the black-haired male stated.

Rena let out a small sigh. "Then, it's settled. Despite the risks, we cannot leave Izanagi in Tartarus."

Mario raised a hand into the sky. "Woo, we get to sneak into the school! I know just what to do…" he said, rubbing his hands together, as if he had formed a diabolical plot to break into the school.

Elsword rested his hands onto the back of his head, looking at the ceiling. _So, Izanagi Imperium is trapped inside Tartarus. Will we really be able to save her? Can we even find her…? It doesn't matter what I think anymore. The operation had already begun. _He looked out the window, seeing the faint trace of pink cherry blossoms that slowly drifted to the ground, defenseless against the raging wind.

* * *

And that's a wrap! Chung may be a bit out of character and all, but it's necessary for his role and all. Anyways, OC's will be introduced slowly, but they will be introduced, so don't worry. This chapter took a bit longer to write, mostly because I got distracted again. xD Anyways, R&R please!

RubyCrusade ; Well, no more OC forms, thank god. xD And that's fine. As long as you review sometime. xD and, Elsword can switch between classes. He switched to Magic Knight on the monorail. xD

Hitsuken ; Well, gosh. Purple is too purple. It doesn't fit the color scheme in the Dark Hour.

The Cynical Asian ; Gotta love dem cliffhangers. Well, nature isn't nice. Cookies are always the way to go. xD Fighting scenes are my thing. I love writing them. xD

Not-Alone-Anymore; I'm not that good at battle scenes. xD And, I'll keep that in mind. BECAUSE I LOVE TORTURING MY READERS. MUAHAHAHAHAHA. Anyways, woo, suspense. And I appreciate the review. xD

SerenityofStars ; Yes, he can change now. And thanks. xD

Guest ; Because I love torturing my readers. xD

Shikuna ; Yep, you just love that type of comedy. Ta ta, my servant~

Light12XV ; Keep in mind that your OC has been included, but will not appear until much later. Sorry. :d


	6. The Ordeal

**The Ordeal**

**_It is indeed a precious gift to understand the forces that guide one-self._**

_Elsword – Sword Knight/Lord Knight/Magic Knight/Rune Slayer_

_Aisha – High Magician/Elemental Master_

_Rena – Combat Ranger/Wind Sneaker_

_Mario – Ember Artist/Blazing Boxer_

_Raven – Sword Taker/Blade Master_

_Chung – Iron Paladin_

_Izanagi – Imperial/Imperial Order_

* * *

It was still evening, a lush breeze of wind drifting through the opened window, cooling the five SEES members standing in the Command Room. The chart on the monitor was flickering and jagged, red-colored lines swerving up and down, representing the amount of Apathy Syndrome cases in the last month or so. Elsword, Aisha, Mario, Raven, and Rena had briefed themselves on the situation at school, but it was time to get ready for the operation. The Dark Hour was only an hour or so away and the five of them still had to get to the gym before it started. Izanagi had already been trapped in Tartarus for a few days, hours there. If they didn't save her tonight, they could only expect the worst.

Rena let out a small sigh, standing at the very base of the monitor, her green-colored eyes narrowed and worried. "I can't find the Chairman. He isn't answering my calls and I don't know where he is…" she trailed off.

Elsword scratched his crimson-colored hair. "We can handle it by ourselves. We don't need his help. This shouldn't be too hard. It's just Tartarus," he replied, his voice confident and reassuring.

"There's a problem. If I can't get the Chairman, I don't think we can get into the school. I don't have the keys or anything like that," Rena countered, plopping down onto one of the chairs, resting her chin onto her hands.

Mario smirked, adjusting his glasses. "You don't have to worry. I already knew this could be a problem and I already took the means necessary so we can enter the school," he said, proud of his quick thinking.

Rena scrunched her eyebrows up, taking Mario's plan a bit too extreme. "Means necessary…? An explosive…?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. Everyone's head turned to her and she blinked, letting out a small sigh. "Never mind. I'll let you handle it…"

Raven stood up, adjusting his jacket. "We don't have any time to waste. Let's go," he said to everyone else, making his leave, heading out of the door and down the staircase, the green-haired girl following quickly after him.

Aisha blinked, looking at Mario through narrowed purple eyes. "An explosive? Are you an idiot!? You want to blow up the school!?" she retorted to him, smacking the back of his head.

Mario let out a small yelp, instantly rubbing it. "Ouch! I never said that! All I did was unlock a door…" he trailed off, frowning lightly now.

Elsword nodded. "Of course. This nerd would never plant an explosive. He may blow up his MMO club room," he added, tufting his hands into his pockets.

"H-hey, that room is essential! And explosives are a lot of money!" Mario snapped back, letting his arms drift down to the ground, a small sigh escaping from his parted lips.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just go. Raven and Rena are waiting for us," Elsword said to the two of them. Trudging forward, he left the Command Room and headed down to the first floor of the dorm, Aisha and Mario following him. Once they reached Rena and Raven, they made their way to Gekkoukan High School.

* * *

The door that Mario had left unlocked was on the side left entrance to the school, connecting it to a hallway and then the entrance area of the school. The lights were dimmed as the five of them entered the school, forming a small circle now. They still had about thirty minutes or so before the Dark Hour would actually begin.

Mario nodded, a smug smile on his face. "I had everything covered. I'm a genius!" he exclaimed, adjusting his glasses somewhat on his face.

Aisha rolled her eyes. "I don't know if leaving a door unlocked is really something to brag about, Stupio," she retorted to him.

Rena smiled lightly. "That was a good idea. Good job, Mario~" she complimented him, her voice cheerful and light despite the tough situation they were in.

Raven cleared his throat, his arms crossed against his chest. "We don't have time for this. Let's go," he said. Whisking around, he headed down the hallway, Rena following the speedy male as usual. The two entered a classroom, the trio following them in.

Elsword laid his hands onto the back of his head, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Why are we coming in here…?" he asked the two of them, not seeing the point of going into a random classroom.

"Um…More importantly, can we turn on the lights…?" Aisha asked, shuffling from foot to foot. The classroom was extremely dark, all the lights shut off. Only the full moon outside gave them any source of light, a small beam of white light glowing on their individual faces.

Elsword smirked at Aisha. "Oh, are we scared of the dark now, grapehead?" he taunted Aisha.

Aisha's violet irises fluttered somewhat as she stomped the ground. "O-Of course not! Stop being such an annoying little brat all the time!" she snapped at the red-haired male.

Elsword scratched his crimson hair, looking at the ceiling. "An annoying little brat…? I'm pretty sure that fits you," he countered, tapping Aisha's nose with his index finger.

"Quiet," Raven said simply. A look of pure determination was etched onto his face. "This operation won't be ruined by your pointless bickering, so be quiet," he added. "The school cuts the power at night anyways," he explained.

Rena started the mission brief. "First, we have to find the key to the gym. Raven and I will check the janitor's room. You three can check the Faculty Office. After ten minutes, meet in the main hallway again. Okay~" she inclined, looking at them all.

Elsword nodded. "Of course. Don't worry about us," he replied to the green-haired girl. He tufted his hands into his pockets, ready to move out.

Mario smiled at that. "Oh, maybe we'll find some test questions there…" he trailed off, a bit of excitement portrayed in his voice. Judging how well he did on the midterms, he needed them.

Raven perked up at that. "Maybe I should go to the Faculty Office. It sounds interesting," he suggested, looking over at Rena now.

Rena smiled mischievously, green-eyes narrowed at them. "Oh, are you two planning something unmoral under my supervision? Must I execute you~" she said, her voice still sweet, hiding the destruction that would happen if she was given the wrong answer.

Mario instantly waved his hands around. "Ha, as if! It was a joke! I would never do something like that," he replied, a hint of disappointment in his voice, a sigh quickly following.

Rena's somewhat creepy smile didn't waver. "We're heading over to the janitor's room. You're coming with us, Mario," she ordered, now leaving the classroom. Raven and Mario left without a word, merely scratching their heads at the same time.

"Perfect, now I'm stuck with Elbaka by myself now. Let's get this over with," Aisha complained, clasping her hands behind her back as she glared at the crimson-haired male.

Elsword smirked at Aisha. "What's with that attitude? You know you love spending time with me," he taunted her.

Aisha shook her head wildly, her violet curls swaying from side to side. "A-As if! Shut up and just go!" she snapped back, taken back by his comment.

"Denial only means you want me. But, I'll leave it be for now. Come on, grapehead," Elsword continued, proceeding to trudge out of the classroom.

Aisha followed closely by, a thin line of red stretched from one side of her face to the other. "Stupid…" she grumbled to herself, forcing herself to not burn him alive.

Yellowness streaked across the white ceiling, the rectangular lights flickering lightly, a small amount of electricity still within them. The hallway was dark and eerie. Windows and doors were outlined in blackness, the full moon outside enshrouding them in a small orb of brightness. The Faculty Office was just down the hall, next to the main entrance of the school where the information board, the lockers, and snack counter was. The office was the size of a typical classroom. A large marble table was placed in the center of the room, various books and papers stacked across it. Cabinets were laid adjacent next to each other beside the door, a bulletin board above it. On the top of the cabinets was a small box, a small label with the word 'keys' plastered onto it.

Aisha strode to the box, her pale hands rummaging through the contents of the safe. Pulling individual keys up, she squinted, letting out a small sigh. "I can barely read these…It's so dark. What does this say?" she asked Elsword, shoving one key into his face.

Elsword laced his fingers around the key, examining it. "I don't know," he said simply, unable to read the letters on the key either.

Aisha scrunched her eyebrows up, stabbing the tip of the key into the male's forehead. "You're useless…Um…Oh, this is it. It says gym," she exclaimed.

The red-haired male shrugged, massaging his forehead lightly with his thumb and index finger. "Perfect. Let's hurry up and find the others. It's almost midnight," he replied back.

The purple-haired girl shoved the key into the pocket of her uniform, nodding her head lightly. "Okay…You lead the way," she stated.

Elsword said nothing, walking out of the office. Heading down the narrow hallway, the faint silhouettes of the student message board and lockers outlined the entrance of the school. The dim light from the moon illuminated a small section of the area, the images of Mario, Rena, and Raven clear there. It seemed as if the three of them had been waiting a few minutes due to the look of impatience etched onto Raven's face, a scowl drooping from the corners of his mouth.

Arms crossed against her chest, Rena hummed a light tune, her bright green eyes staring at Elsword and Aisha. "Did you two find the key?" she asked them.

Aisha nodded, twirling the small key in between her fingers. "Yeah."

Rena smiled lightly, shifting over to the left so that she could face all of them at once. "Okay, we'll divide into teams again. One team will enter Tartarus to look for Izanagi and the other will remain outside. I think it should be three of us that enter. I'll be outside with technical support again. Elsword will be entering Tartarus indefinitely. His ability to change forms will be useful. The other two, you guys can decide~" she stated.

Raven spoke up immediately. "I'll go. It's been awhile since I've been part of a big operation." He scratched his raven-colored hair, his golden eyes narrowed slightly.

"Um…I'll be the third then," Aisha volunteered, hesitating slightly. She felt slightly uncomfortable that she would have to be with Rena alone. It was just awkward.

Mario shook his head. "Whoa, wait. Remember how I messed up on the monorail? I want to redeem myself for that. So, I'm going," he exclaimed, determination clear in his voice.

Aisha rolled her eyes, a small frown forming on her face. "Why do you keep making things difficult? It's not always about you! You're probably just going to mess up again," she snapped back at Mario.

"Which is why I should get a second chance to prove you wrong," Mario replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I'm going and you can't stop me."

Elsword let out a small sigh. "Shut up Mr. Crybaby. But, I think he should come along too," he suggested. A small smirk etched itself onto his face as he looked over at Aisha. "Looks like you'll have to stay here, grapehead."

Aisha's mouth opened somewhat in the formation of another retort, but it closed almost instantly. "…Fine. But, don't blame me when Mario messes up again," she said quietly.

Mario poked his glasses, clearing his throat. "Awesome! Thanks," he said to the crimson-haired male, completely disregarding the nickname.

Raven blinked. "I don't see the problem here. Do you not want to stay behind with Rena?" he questioned Aisha.

"Um, of course not. I just wanted to go into Tartarus, but its fine," Aisha replied, flustered slightly by Raven's question. She took a step closer to Rena, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Then, shall we begin~" Rena asked promptly, the others nodding in agreement.

* * *

12:00. The ominous "boom" emitted, the pale ivory green color soon enveloping everything. The familiar sick odor of rich blood hung in the air, the full moon smiling menacingly in the sky. The entrance of Tartarus was as confusing as ever, the entrance of the labyrinth glowing lightly. Rena and Aisha stood in front of the gaping hole, providing technical support for Mario, Elsword, and Raven who had already entered the gym.

Aisha shuffled awkwardly, slowly hopping from one foot to another, her purple-colored hair swishing from side to side. It had been a few minutes since the other team had entered the gym, but they hadn't received any contact from them. It worried her slightly, but Rena seemed calm, as she continued to hum her own jolly tune. "Um…So, what's going on?" she asked, looking at the green-haired girl.

Rena stopped her humming, blinking at Aisha. "Well, we still haven't heard back from them. The device's sensitivity is set to high too. But, don't worry. I should be able to find them soon~" she reassured her, smiling faintly at her.

Silence passed between the two of them as Rena continued to work on the device, her pale fingers rummaging across the surface of it, a single drop of sweat rolling down her face due to the amount of concentration she was putting into her work. Aisha let out a small sigh, looking around Tartarus as she paced around, not sure how to strike up a conversation. A small beep sounded and Rena's smile got wider. First, static greeted her, and then Raven's voice came through the transmitter.

"Rena, can you hear me?" Raven's voice came out, a bit muffled and quiet. The reception continued to be iffy, the device beeping endlessly.

"Yes, I can hear you. I can now see your location. You're really high in Tartarus. I can barely communicate with you…Is everyone fine?" Rena asked, still fiddling with the device, trying to increase the communication range and volume between them.

More static. "…Don't know…Got sep…" Raven started, until the transmission died completely. Rena shook her head lightly, a frown forming across her face. "I lost him. I can't get in touch with the others either. This is as far as this device can go," she stated.

Aisha crossed her arms against her chest, her violet irises narrowing slightly. "So, they're all out of range? That worries me…" she trailed off, her fingers slowly tightening around her Evoker.

Rena turned her head to look at Aisha. "There's nothing we can do but wait. It would be meaningless to enter Tartarus since they're so high up already. There's still a chance we can receive a transmission too," she said.

"So, we wait…" Aisha mumbled to herself. "Mario probably did something to mess them up…"

* * *

A flowery purple-colored design greeted Elsword. The floor had an intricate design of symbols that he couldn't understand. One thing he did realize was that the floor was disgusting and did not taste good. The crimson-haired male slowly raised to his feet, shaking his head lightly, his vision still blurred. "That may not have been a good idea…And no one else is here. Perfect…" he muttered to himself.

"Are you awake?" a voice called out. The jail-suit child materialized behind Elsword, a small smirk cast onto his face, his blue eyes as mysterious as ever.

"You are a creepy stalker. So, you can appear outside of my room as well? What do you want now?" Elsword inquired of the creepy boy, slowly turning to face the boy that had contracted him.

"Another warning. Tonight, you will face more than just one ordeal. You should hurry…She's waiting for you," the mysterious boy exclaimed, before vanishing completely from the scene.

"Wait, what do you mean? Are you talking about Izanagi?" Elsword inclined, but the pale boy was already gone. A small sigh escaped from his parted lips and he turned around, looking forward at the labyrinth in front of him. Pulling out his Evoker, he placed the muzzle of the gun-shaped object onto his head, pulling the trigger. A swirl of blue surrounded him, his eyes flashing lightly. "Formation Bond! Arcana Judgment! Come forth, Magic Knight!" he shouted. His crimson hair became jagged and spiky, a little of his abdomen now showing through his shirt. His sword materialized in his left hand, a small ball of fire dancing lightly on the palm of his other hand. "This should be fun…"

Elsword trudged forward, propping the base of his sword onto his shoulder. The first Shadow to descend onto him was a Soul Dancer. It had two bodies merged together by the formation of tango, one wearing a suit and the other a dress. The same gooey concept for all Shadows made no exception here, a small heart-shaped head floating above the two bodies. Elsword swerved forward, slamming the tip of his blade into the ground, four fiery crimson glass-like blades erupting from the floor and slashed into the Soul Dancer, the shadow screeching loudly at the attack as it was launched into the air. Jumping into the air, he drove his sword through its body, dispelling the Shadow in two attacks. Landing onto the floor, Elsword smirked lightly. "Easy…" he mumbled to himself.

Another twenty feet or so away from Elsword was another group of Shadows, two more Soul Dancers to be exact. Elsword raised his hand, the space in front of the first Soul Dancer flickering, a portal materializing. A long blade shot out, stabbing the first Shadow into the wall behind it, cracking the structure. Blitzing forward, he hammered the second Shadow with his fist, a spherical ball of flame enveloping his hand. Slamming the Soul Dancer into the floor, Elsword twirled around, skidding across the flowery-patterned floor, avoiding the first Shadow that had recovered and tried to strike him, instead hitting the second Soul Dancer. The two screeched at each other before Elsword made one solid cut, destroying both of them in one swoop. Lowering his sword, Elsword walked around a corner, only to see a fist enshrouded in ice aimed at his face.

Instantly ducking, the fist only grazed the top of his hair. Elsword kicked his leg out, tripping whatever had attacked him. Spinning around, he prepared to stab the sword down only to see the one that had attacked him was an idiot. "Mario!? Why are you attacking me?" he asked the other male, lowering his sword.

"Uh…I thought you were a Shadow," Mario replied, sprawled across the floor now, in an "X" position. Pushing himself to his feet, he scratched his head, already in his Ember Artist form.

Raven stood a little off from the two of them, his back pressed against one of the walls. "We bumped into each other almost immediately. It seemed as if you were placed in the complete opposite side of us. But, I don't think we should enter Tartarus like this ever again," he said to the two of them.

Elsword dug his sword into the floor, leaning onto the blade now. Looking over at the raven-haired male, he nodded, a blank expression cast onto his face. "I agree. What we need to do is look for Izanagi now," he stated.

Mario adjusted his glasses. "Oh, yeah! Did either one of you hear a voice?" he asked, glancing at the two of them.

Elsword scrunched his eyebrows up. "A voice? No, I didn't…" he trailed off. _The only voice I heard was from creepy stalker boy who had warned me of a second ordeal. _

Raven shook his head, crossing his arms against his chest. "No, I didn't hear a voice either. Are you hearing things?" he asked Mario.

"Of course not! That voice was real!" Mario exclaimed, scratching his head now, trying to find a way to prove to the two of them that he had heard something.

"Who's there…? Are you human?" a voice called out. It belonged to a girl's and wasn't Aisha nor Rena.

Mario jumped lightly, but a smug smile quickly formed on his face. "See, that's the voice! I know what I'm talking about," he retorted.

"Yeah, okay. It sounds like it's coming from behind us…" Elsword trailed off. He turned around, his crimson eyes narrowed slightly.

There was another path there that led to another section of Tartarus, but a structure of wall blocked off half of the path. A girl's head poked out from it, her face appearing from the side of the wall. She had sharp silver-colored eyes and long ruby-colored hair. She wore the regular school uniform, the combination of a black jacket and skirt. A natural poker-face was imprinted onto her expression, her eyes glaring at the three of them.

Raven was the first one to talk, a little surprised by the sudden appearance of the girl. "Are you Izanagi Imperium?" he asked, taking a step closer to the girl.

"And what if I am!? I get locked in the school and get trapped with these gooey things and the first people I see are these idiots? Give me a break…" Izanagi snapped, aggression, annoyance, and plain rebel illustrated in her voice.

Mario disregarded her crude remark, smiling. "Wow, you're alive! That's amazing! Never fear! Mario is here!" he exclaimed, confidence in his voice.

Izanagi took a step back, shaking her head lightly. "You're an idiot," she stated promptly, immediately dashing Mario's heroic statement.

Elsword scratched his crimson-colored hair. _Those girls were picking on her? Is that even possible? _"You're not safe here, so come with us," he said to Izanagi.

Izanagi took a single step back. "I'm not going with you guys. I don't even know who you guys are. I'll find my way out of here alone," she stated.

"You see, that may be a problem," Raven replied back, turning around to look at Izanagi fully.

Izanagi narrowed her eyes, looking at Raven. "Oh, it's you. Figures…Fine, I'll follow you guys for now. Do anything stupid and I'll kill you," she exclaimed.

Elsword scrunched his eyebrows up, glancing from Izanagi to Raven. _Huh. Seems like the two know about each other…Oh, wait. It was Raven who found her when he was in the hospital getting his wound treated. I guess that makes sense. _"We should contact Rena," he told Raven.

Raven nodded, lifting his hand to his ear, trying to get the transmitter device to work. A beeping sound emitted and static followed, but he couldn't stabilize the transmission.

Izanagi said nothing, her arms crossed against her chest, a small scowl plastered against her face. She stood a few feet away from the three of them, glaring at the floor. A moment of silence passed before she finally talked. "I'm guessing you are the guys that Raven was talking about? SEES, was it? What a lame name. Where are we?" she asked, looking up at them now.

"It's complicated. After we get out of here, I'll explain," Elsword replied, placing his hands onto the back of his head, leaning back onto one of the wall structures as Raven still attempted to stabilize the connection.

"Hmph. And what's with that outfit? Trying to be some type of hotshot male model?" Izanagi asked, referring to Elsword's crop top.

"Not my fault. It's what the Evoker gave me," Elsword stated back, nonchalant and careless about the girl's attitude and apparent "tsun-ness" or meanness.

Izanagi blinked, looking away again, her eyes drooping slightly from exhaustion. She had been trapped in the Dark Hour for days now, totaling up to a few hours. It was safe to say that she would fall unconscious sooner or later by this point.

"Rena, can you hear me?" Raven's voice called out, still talking through the transmitter device latched onto his ear. He stood there, motionless for a few more moments, before he finally shook his head. "This won't work. All I hear is static. We'll have to just return to the entrance," he stated.

Mario looked at Izanagi, a bit awkward around the new girl now. "Um…Are you hurt? Did you run into any strange monsters or anything?" he asked the girl.

Izanagi glared at Mario, who stepped behind Elsword. "Why would I be hurt? Ask any more dumb questions and I'll send you flying. As for the creatures, I avoided them."

"Avoid them? How is that possible?" Raven inclined, surprise evident in his voice now as he lowered his hand from his ear, taking a few steps closer to the three of them.

"More stupid questions. I can tell where they are. Can't you guys do that?" Izanagi snapped. She didn't like all the attention she was receiving. It just annoyed her.

"No, we can't. It seems as if she has the same power as Rena, but she doesn't need a device to amplify it," Raven stated, scratching his head now.

"You mean sensing Shadows and all that stuff?" Mario asked.

Raven nodded, now pulling out a second Evoker from a second holster strapped around his belt. "That would be the only logical explanation. Hang on to this," he said to Izanagi, placing the Evoker in her hands.

Izanagi took the Evoker, staring at it with wide dull-colored eyes. "A gun…? You people are insane…But, fine," she said, holding the gun-shaped object tightly in between her two hands.

"It's not really a gun. You'll see how we use it sooner or later," Elsword reassured the crimson-haired girl. Tufting his hands into his pockets, he looked over at Raven. "Let's head back," he told the three of them. Trudging onto another path within Tartarus, the three of them followed him without saying a word. After a few minutes of walking like this, the wall next to them opened up, the green-colored sky and full moon greeting them instantly.

"Wow, look at the moon! It looks so creepy," Mario said, coming to a halt. He stared at the giant rock formation floating in the sky, his head tilted to the side somewhat as he observed it.

Raven let out a small sigh. "It's not confirmed, but Lowe did say that some research indicated that Shadows are affected by the phases of the moon…But, that works for humans too."

"That would explain Aisha-tan's mood swings…" Mario trailed off, scratching his head now.

Elsword shrugged lightly. "Eh, I don't think that's the reason. She's always grumpy, irritated, and annoyed at you. It might just be because of you," he replied.

"I'm pretty sure you're the cause of most of the damage to the dorm…Didn't she try to stab you with some replica katana a few weeks ago? She made a freaking hole in the wall with that!" Mario retorted back.

The knight nodded, a faint smile forming on his face. "Yeah…Good times. We should do that again," he suggested, placing his hands onto the back of his head now.

"…Hey, wasn't it a full moon the night we went to the monorail?" Mario asked, tearing his gaze off of the full moon to glance at the red-haired male who was leaning lazily onto his sword.

"Hm…I believe so. Why?" Elsword inclined back. Raven instantly whisked around, a serious expression on his face.

"It was!? Did you see the moon on the night the dorm was attacked, back in April?" Raven asked Elsword, his golden eyes narrowed slightly at the other male.

"Yes, both of those nights were full moons. Today's a full moon too…" Elsword trailed off. His thoughts trailed back to the mysterious boy that continued to visit him from time to time. _Didn't he say that I had to face two ordeals today? Each time he appears is right before a full moon too…Is there some sort of connection there?_

Raven took no time to talk to them, instantly raising his hand to activate the transmitter device. "Rena, can you hear me!? Are you there!?" he exclaimed into the device.

The transmitter produced static for a few seconds before a very faint signal came on. "Raven…? Shadows-"her voice cut off, the transmission still very weak.

"There's no use…It's not working. We have to get to the entrance as quickly as possible," Raven exclaimed, lowering his hand from the earplug now.

Izanagi had placed her hands onto the base of the floor below the opening. "…What is this thing…? It's bigger than the other creatures…And it's attacking someone…" she trailed off, her voice a little dazed, almost as if she was in a trance.

Mario scratched his head, bewilderment sparked on his features. "Wait, what…? What's going on!?" he exclaimed, not understanding the current situation.

"We have to hurry. We need to find one of those portals that teleport us back to the entrance. Come on!" Elsword ordered, instantly darting forward, followed quickly by Raven and then Izanagi, who was still locked in her own little trance.

"Whoa, wait up!" Mario shouted, running after the three of them, his Evoker in hand.

* * *

Using the ivory-colored portal, the four of them teleported back to the entrance of Tartarus. Tufts of smoke drifted in the air, the motorcycle that Rena uses broken and demolished in the corner. Aisha was kneeling on the ground, already in her High Magician form. A small bead of blood trailed down the left side of her forehead. In front of her were two Shadows. One was shaped like a giant blue sphere, two tiny feet coming through from the bottom while its neck and head popped out from the top, resembling a stem and rose while the neck was green and the head was pink. Two arms sprouted from its sides, a staff-like weapon in its hand. The second Shadow was larger, shaped exactly like a knight with its armor in it's entirely. A red cross was plastered against its chest plate and in its grasp was a squirming Rena. A gigantic gravel sword was in its other hand, a purple mask protruding the Shadow's neck, forming its head.

"W-what the hell is this? What's going on!?" Izanagi exclaimed, surprised by the sight of them. She hadn't seen a Shadow yet since she had avoided them the entire time, but the appearance of two large ones did shock her.

Raven raised his Evoker to his head, placing the muzzle of the object onto it. "There are two of them!?" he bellowed. Pulling the muzzle, a bang emitted, his golden eyes flashing blue. "Formation Bond! Arcana Emperor! Come forth, Sword Taker!" he added. His black-colored hair became spikier, now cast all over the place. A set of silver armor was adorned onto him, black pants enveloping his legs. A metallic silver claw swirled around his left hand, a crescent-shaped sword materializing in his right hand.

Aisha pulled herself to her feet, weakly raising her staff into the air. "Nothing's working on them! They seem to repel all of our attacks!" she told them, exhaustion clear in her voice and stature.

Mario scratched his head, letting out a nervous laugh. "Heh, they look really angry…" he trailed off, the two Shadows now turning to face the small group.

The spherical-shaped Shadow suddenly lunged forward, the staff-like weapon cast downwards at the already weakened Aisha. Izanagi was the only one close to her, the others a few feet away from the two of them.

Elsword raised his hand, starting to form a portal in front of them, intending to strike the Shadow with a sword, but he knew that he would be too late.

Izanagi stared at the Shadow with cold eyes, slowly raising her own Evoker, a small sigh escaping from her parted lips. Raven darted forward, trying to strike the other Shadow to retrieve Rena. "Wait, that's not a weapon!" he called out to the red-haired girl.

"I know that. You don't have to tell me such useless information," Izanagi snapped at the Sword Taker. She held the barrel of the Evoker to her head, pulling the trigger. "I am thou. Thou art I. From the sea of thy slumber, I call upon thee. Awaken thyself in my orb of aid and allow me to create a veil of deception. Formation bond. Arcana Priestess. Come forth, Imperial!" she shouted. Her eyes flashed a sea-blue before reverting to their usual silver color. Her school uniform changed into a long black-colored turtleneck coat, a plate of red cast around the center of it, a silver cross embedded onto the bottom of it. A hat materialized on the top of her head, a single silver cross with a red gem in the middle designed onto it. Redness enveloped her left hand, a glowing metallic staff appearing within her hand. A sphere of dark crimson energy mediated on the top of her staff, spinning around lightly. A majestic aura surrounded her, temporarily stunning the Shadow in front of her, before a mass of swords came into being around her before slamming into the Shadow, knocking it back into the second one. Both fell down onto the floor, shaking it heavily, the knight-like Shadow dropping Rena, who fell onto the floor beside Aisha.

Raven knelt down by Rena, helping the green-haired girl up. "Rena! Are you alright…?" he asked her, a hint of concern and worry portrayed in his voice.

Rena nodded slowly, a faint smile itching itself onto her face. "I'm alright~ But, be careful. Normal attacks won't work on these two for some reason," she warned them, slowly rising to her feet. She was still in her normal form, having not used her Evoker in time to transform before the Shadow had grabbed her. "I can't find its weakness either. All of my equipment has been destroyed…" she trailed off.

Elsword stopped beside Aisha, his crimson eyes staring at the purple-haired girl. "Hey, are you alright? You look pretty beat up," he said to her.

Aisha rolled her eyes, letting out a small sigh. "Oh, shut up Elbaka. You try fighting these two then! It's impossible," she retorted to the red-haired male.

"Sh. Nothing is impossible. Just stand back and watch us take care of it. Besides, I'm pretty sure Izanagi is the new powerhouse here," Elsword stated, slowly pulling Aisha behind him towards Mario.

"If you lovebirds are done, step back. I'm taking care of these guys," Izanagi said to the small group before her, her eyes flickering dangerously as she looked back at them.

The two Shadows slowly raised themselves back up, screeching at them, even more provoked than before. The spherical-shaped one, the Empress, rolled around, waving its staff into the air. The knight-shaped one, the Emperor, raised its sword, lowering it to his side.

Elsword blinked. "Alright…Izanagi and I will take the giant sphere Shadow thing. The three of you will fight the knight one," he said to them. Placing the muzzle back onto his head, he pulled the trigger. "Formation Bond! Arcana Fool! Come forth, Sword knight!" he exclaimed, instantly shifting into his first form. He trudged over to the red-haired girl, glancing at her. "Ready?" he asked her.

Izanagi glared at Elsword, eyes narrowing somewhat. "I said I don't need your help. Go help the others. I don't need anyone slowing me down," she said to him. Without waiting for a reply, she darted forward. Lightning crackled, imbuing her staff-like weapon with electricity. More blades materialized around herself before she attacked the Empress, slamming her weapon into the Shadow's body, the other swords crashing into it. The Empress let out a screech, thrown back into the wall behind it. The Emperor retaliated immediately, swinging its sword at Izanagi, who raised her staff, rattling it lightly. A shield formed around her, shielding her from the majority of the blow. Skidding backwards, she balanced herself, a small smirk cast onto her face. The Empress raised itself again, shaking its own staff now. Orbs of wind materialized underneath Elsword and Izanagi, launching both of them into the sky.

Elsword gritted his teeth, spinning around in the air. Using the momentum that the Empress had given him, he arched himself down, spinning around now, forming a small tornado. He started to dance around the Shadow, hitting it repeatedly, earning more screeches from it. The Empress slashed horizontally with its staff, attempting to knock Elsword off his balance. The red-haired male lifted his sword up, blocking the staff from connecting with his face. Pushing it forward, sparks ignited around the two weapons. He lifted the Evoker to his head, pulling the trigger once more. "Arcana change, Judgment! Come forth, Magic Knight!" he exclaimed. Changing into his sword form, he ducked, avoiding the staff, and then slammed his sword into the ground, fiery crimson blades now spiraling around him, stabbing the Empress countless times. The Shadow roared and kicked out, making Elsword skid backwards into Izanagi.

Izanagi let out an irritated hiss, pushing herself away from Elsword. "Get off me!" she shouted at the male. Fire now embedded itself around her staff, her silver eyes narrowing somewhat. She ran forward again, driving the very tip of her weapon into the Empress's body, but it had no effect. Instead, the attack rebounded onto Izanagi, the bulk of her staff slamming itself back into her own body. Letting out a small yelp of pain, Izanagi fell backwards, burned slightly now. The Empress now shot another wave of wind at the red-haired girl, who was still dazed from the last attack.

Mario swerved in between the two of them, thrusting his own fist out. A sonic boom emitted from his hand, colliding with the first blast of wind, creating a small explosion. The aftershock launched Mario backwards into a wall, a small groan escaping from him.

The Emperor struck downward, exchanging blows with Raven. The Sword Taker dashed forward, unleashing a rapid volley of slashes onto the Shadow's body before he jumped back. Rena followed in by kicking the Shadow in the face, knocking it back into the ground. The green-haired girl flipped backwards, landing on her two feet. She had transformed into a Combat Ranger. Her long green-colored hair was now in a ponytail. She wore a white and green shirt and small shorts that hung above her knees, exposing most of her legs. A white arch-shaped bow was in her hand as she unleashed a volley of arrows into the Emperor.

Izanagi picked herself back up, panting lightly. Black dots danced across her vision, unconsciousness now ready to meet her. She had been awake and active in the Dark Hour for far too long, even if she had been avoiding all the Shadows within Tartarus. She took a few steps forward, failing to see the Empress strike down at her with its staff.

Elsword deflected the staff, his crimson eyes glinting dangerously. Raising his hand, a portal materialized in front of the Empress, the transparent sword erupting from it, stabbing the Shadow, who was barely affected by it. _Did it change properties or something? My attacks aren't working anymore. _He glanced over at the other battle, seeing that the same thing was happening as well. "Switch! These Shadows can change their weaknesses and attributes," he stated. His plan was if they switched, they could hack and slash at the opposite Shadow, which would not be ready to be attacked by the other group. He looked over at Izanagi. "Are you okay?" he asked the girl.

"Of course! Stop worrying about me! I can take care of myself, you idiot!" Izanagi retorted to Elsword. Disregarding Elsword's suggestion, she continued to attack the Empress, all of her attacks proving to do nothing. Stumbling backwards, she lifted her hand, a shield summoned in front of her to block a sudden blast of wind. She pressed herself against the shield, slowly being blown back.

"…Watch her," Elsword said to the approaching Rena, Raven, and Mario. He walked to the Emperor, who was now waiting patiently. Jumping forward, he first launched a fireball at the Shadow, who instantly screeched at the sudden change of attribute. A small smirk etched itself onto his face. Slamming the bulk of his sword into the ground, a fiery phoenix appeared around him, flying around him before it rose into the sky, flapping its wings at the Emperor, who was inflicted with fire. A red-colored aura enveloped Elsword as he started to attack the Shadow with several different attacks, mostly using his sword to hack and slash at it.

Mario swept underneath the Empress, tripping the large Shadow. "Now!" he exclaimed. Rolling around, ice particles formed around his fist as he crashed it into the Empress, flinging the Shadow over at Raven now. Raven slashed his sword down, a bluish aura swirling around his sword, a sonic shockwave cast from his sword. The attack rammed into the Empress, propelling it towards Rena, who retaliated with several kicks to its head before she jumped into the air above it, suddenly plummeting downwards, stomping the Shadow into the ground, creating a shock field that stunned the Shadow.

Izanagi watched the three of them battle the Shadow. She took a single step forward to the Empress, raising a single hand into the hand. Closing it into a fist, a blade of energy materialized in the air above the Shadow, now slashing into it. The Empress let out a loud screech before dissipating, leaving nothing behind but a pool of black glob. She slowly lowered herself to her knees, exhaust of energy now.

"Whoa, what was that!?" Mario shouted, looking over at Izanagi, shocked by the sheer amount of power behind that blow. He looked at the pool of blackness before he glanced over at Elsword. "Hey, you done yet?" he questioned the crimson-haired male.

"Almost!" Elsword shouted back. Clashing his own sword against the Emperor's, a sudden gust rushed out. He pressed his sword into the much larger one before spinning around, placing the Evoker back onto his head. "Arcana change, Fool! Come forth, Sword Knight!" he shouted. Shifting into his first form, he rolled forward, directly under the Shadow. He held his sword underneath its chest, a powerful aura now enveloping his weapon. The sword suddenly transcended, a vibrant red glow emitting, stabbing the Emperor harshly through its chest. A moment or two passed before it exploded into nothingness. Huffing out a sigh of relief, Elsword stood up fully now, looking back at Mario. "See."

Rena blinked, a faint smile on her face. "Good job, everyone! We did it~" she shouted, reverting back to her original form, quickly followed by the rest of the members in SEES.

Raven nodded, strapping his Evoker into his holster. "How is Izanagi?" he asked, looking over at the red-haired girl, who was on her knees.

"I'm fine. God, you guys are so annoying. I didn't need any help. I took down that Shadow easily…" Izanagi trailed off, collapsing onto the floor now.

Elsword trudged forward, slowly picking up Izanagi in his arms. "She's exhausted. Is everyone else fine? How about you, Aisha?" he asked.

The purple-haired girl nodded, slowly walking towards them. "Yeah…I'm fine. She had a lot of power though…" she stated, looking at the unconscious Izanagi.

Raven crossed his arms against his chest. "Where did these two Shadows come from…?" he asked, looking down at the floor of Tartarus.

Rena shrugged lightly, rummaging through the wreckage of her motorcycle. "It's the same as before. They came from outside Tartarus," she answered the raven-haired male.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm exhausted. We should head back," Elsword suggested. Moving towards the entrance of Tartarus, he stared down at Izanagi, his eyes narrowing slightly. _You remind me so much of Elsa…The Dark Hour and Igor hate me._

* * *

It had been two days since the rescue operation and now all the members of SEES, including Lowe and Izanagi had decided to meet in the Command Room. Elsword sat beside Mario and Aisha, the three of them sitting on small cushion chairs. Rena, Raven, and Izanagi sat on a couch, all spread apart from each other. Lowe took the chair that laid in front of both set of chairs and the couch so that he could address all of them at once.

Lowe spoke first. "Everyone, you did an excellent job uncovering the truth. Now, I would like to address another matter. Are you Izanagi Imperium?" he asked the red-haired girl.

Izanagi scrunched up her eyebrows, placing one leg over another in a careless manner. "And if I am? I'm not joining this stupid group. I don't want to be tied down," she stated simply, keeping her stark face.

Rena cleared her throat. "You have a special power that can help others. Do you not want to help~" she questioned the other girl, looking at her with wide green eyes.

"I could care less," Izanagi replied, her voice crude and blunt. She looked away again, not liking the fact that she was the center of attention again.

Elsword scratched his red-colored hair, his face planted firmly on the top of his two hands. "If you join, I'll give you ice cream. And coffee. As much as you want," he suggested.

Aisha rolled her eyes, hitting the crimson-haired male on the top of his head with a book. "Idiot! As if that would convince her-"she started but was then interrupted by Izanagi.

"An endless amount…?" Izanagi trailed off, now looking at Elsword through narrowed red eyes.

Elsword nodded, a faint smirk coming onto his face. "Yeah, an endless amount," he added.

Lowe cleared his throat. "Also, this dorm will provide living space to you since I understand that you do require it," he added, trying to seal the deal.

Izanagi let out a small sigh, lowering her head slightly. "Fine, I'll do it. But, don't expect me to listen to orders or anything. I'm fine by myself," she said at last.

Lowe continued. "Now, those about those special Shadows. We have no idea where they're coming from, but it is evident that they appear each full moon," he started.

Mario adjusted his glasses. "So, they're like werewolves then?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to the side as he looked at the Chairman.

"Werewolves? This isn't Twilight you moron," Elsword retorted to Mario, rolling his eyes at the other male. "But, it's good to know when we can expect them," he added.

Lowe nodded. "That's all I wanted to say. Pay attention to the phases of the moon and be ready when it's full again. Another special Shadow will then appear."

* * *

Sprawled across his bed, Elsword stared at the ceiling of his room. It had been a few hours since the meeting amongst SEES and he had retired to his bedroom, now wanting to sleep. A few seconds passed before the familiar boom emitted, the Dark Hour coming forth. And, as Elsword expected it, a voice called out to him.

"You've prevailed yet again," the mysterious boy said, a small smirk on his face as he sat on the very edge of his bed. His blue eyes stared into Elsword's red ones now, his head tilted to the side somewhat. "It's almost funny though. It doesn't seem so certain, considering the vast potential within you…It seems your power has even changed a bit…" he trailed off.

"You seem to love stalking me. But, hey," Elsword replied. He sat up in his bed now, resting his back onto the wall behind him as he clasped his hands together.

The mysterious boy blinked. "Hey, if you don't mind, can I be your friend? I'm very curious about you and your power. Is that okay…?" he asked Elsword, innocence portrayed in his voice.

Elsword shrugged lightly, a small smile forming on his face. "Sure, that's fine with me. What's your name?" he asked the jail-suit boy.

He slowly stood up from the bed, frowning. "Name…? Oh, so I need a name," he said. A small smirk slowly etched itself onto his face, his eyes closing for a moment. "My name is…Pharos."

* * *

So, that's chapter 6. I have to apologize for the wait and all. I've just been really busy and I couldn't start working on this chapter until…a day or 2 ago. In any case, Izanagi is now here and all. Sorry if I messed up her personality or anything. As for the other OC's, they will be revealed in good time. That's all for now. xD

RubyCrusade – Not quite. But, yeah, she's in. xD Torturing readers is very fun. I love doing it. Making them wait even when you have a chapter done already is even better.

CrimsonBloodReaper – Thanks for the comment. And, just one OC for now. The schedule is all jumbled up and all, but they'll get here. xD

The Cynical Asian – Yes, that shall be his nickname. It will be used on later to constantly shun and degrade him. Yeah, yeah, I get it. xD Your character will show up soon…Maybe. Probably. Who knows?

Light12XV – Okay. xD

Shikuna – Yes, you read very slowly. This is why you don't get any special cookies or revived dragons for the last 3 weeks or so. Hours of planning? Meh, maybe an hour or so. It takes hours to write this. xD And keeping everyone dancing in my palm is good as always.

SerenityofStars – Well, they saved her, so woo. That ghost story was fun to write. As for a show, that's too much work. xD

Not-Alone-Anymore – Oh, yes. I love torturing other things to. Yes, Chung is a bit different in this story. xD All the OC's will have either good or bad introductions. Really depends on how I fit it all in. xD

G123u – Finally. /shot Yeah, he's going to abuse that power most of the time. Eve won't kill anyone in this story. At least, I don't think so. Maya will probably be unimportant. Just a small thing or two. xD Well, you have to announce your faith to me and then I'll lend you my skills.

Guest – Thanks for the comment! The alleyway scene was interesting to write. xD


	7. Reminisce

**Reminisce**

_There is both joy and wonder in coming to understand another._

Elsword – Sword Knight/Lord Knight/Magic Knight/Rune Slayer

Aisha – High Magician/Elemental Master

Rena – Combat Ranger/Wind Sneaker

Mario – Ember Artist/Blazing Boxer

Raven – Sword Taker/Blade Master

Chung – Iron Paladin

Izanagi – Imperial/Imperial Order

Coffins lay adjacent to each other, crimson liquid drooping from the wooden sides of each structure. Graffiti glowed slightly behind the sewer pipes that ran across the darken alleyway. The smell of tobacco and cigarettes intertwined with the aroma of blood, forming a new disgusting odor. One of the caskets twitched and shone a dim white color, a human being protruding out of the coffin. A beanie was placed onto his head, his hair shriveled and messy. He wore a black jacket covered in holes and ripped denim jeans. It took a few seconds for the delinquent to register what was happening amidst him. "H-how did I…? W-what the hell is this!?" the teenager exclaimed, performing a full spin, his dull eyes wide at the new "world" that he had just entered.

"Good evening," a male's voice called out. Black-colored hair fell down onto his forehead, his crimson eyes staring at the teenager. He wore a regular white t-shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers. A coat as dark as midnight wrapped itself around his body, red streaks etched into the jacket. A crimson hat was placed promptly on the top of his head. A katana was strapped to his back and a pistol holster was attached to the buckle of his belt. Two more people accompanied him.

The second male was taller than the first. Long black hair went down to the base of his neck and his eyes reflected a golden honey color. Similar to the first male, he wore a black coat around himself, but a silver zipper was imprinted onto the center of his clothing instead of crimson streaks. He wore matching black pants, shoes, and gloves. Two pistol holsters were attached to each of his pockets, a small smirk cast onto his face.

The female was shorter than the other two, but seemed to be a year older than the two males. Short cocoa hair swirled down to the sides of her face. She wore a short black leather shirt, masked around in chains that led down to her brown lined skirt. Black-laced boots ran up to the top of her leg. A giant snowball scarf wrapped itself around her neck, reaching down to her white-laced skirt. She wore bluish red gloves, her eyes a crimson red.

"Are you surprised?" the first male inclined, taking a step closer to the teenager. "To be honest, we all visit this world every night…" he trailed off.

"What…are you saying!? Who the hell are you guys!? What's going on!?" the beanie-wearing male retorted back, confusion and fear both adamant in his voice.

Gold eyes bore into dull ones. The tall male let out a small chuckle, a smug smile etching itself across his face. "Didn't Mommy teach you any manners? You haven't even introduced yourself…How rude," he said to the teenager. Malice and false innocent contrasted significantly in his voice, a mysterious vibe surrounding him. "Look here. Name, address, age, ect…This is you, right?" he asked, holding out a small piece of paper towards him.

The delinquent took a step back, his hands clasping together tightly. "Where did you get that!?" he shouted at the three of them, anger replacing his fear.

"Someone has a grudge towards you. They asked us to get revenge and we are willing to do that," the second male replied. His fingers danced across the hem of his pockets, his index fingers tapping his two golden-shrouded pistols lightly.

"Revenge!? You mean that rumor on the internet is true!? Who put you up to this!?" the teenager added, unaware of the two weapons that were placed around the long-haired male's pockets.

The lead male said nothing, slowly pulling out a sleek black pistol. He raised the barrel of the gun, pointing it at the teenager's head, a blank expression on his face.

"Hey…W-wait…I haven't done anything!" the beanie-wearing male exclaimed, taking a few shaky steps backwards. He tumbled lightly onto himself, falling onto the floor. "What did I even do!?" he shouted, stumbling back to his feet.

"That is not our concern. Your notion of right and wrong is unimportant. All that matters is my client's wishes. Nothing more and nothing less," the first male replied, his voice cold and blunt. "People will hear what they want to hear and believe what they want to believe…" he trailed off, his finger wrapping itself around the trigger of his weapon.

The teenager shook his head, small tears forming at the corners of his eyes. Absolute fear had consumed him, his legs finding themselves unable to move. "N-No…Stay away!" he yelled. Forcing his body to function, the teenager whisked around and ran off.

"My, my…You squeal most magnificently!" the lead male exclaimed. He pulled the trigger of his pistol, the weapon recoiling lightly as the bullet exited the barrel of the gun. A single scream pierced the air, the teenager falling onto the ground. The bullet had hit the right side of his chest, a small pool of blood sprouting out from the wound.

The brown-haired girl took a step forward, a small frown on her face. "He is not dead…Should we not kill him?" she asked, her voice light yet dull, almost as if life itself had been sucked away from her.

"Doesn't matter. We held up our end of the bargain. Besides, this will look like any normal incident tomorrow. Regular humans won't understand what happened. They will think some type of shooting just occurred here," the tall male exclaimed.

"If we are done here, I am feeling rather tired. Come, Azailia and Lindow," Taiki said. He readjusted his black pistol, attaching itself to his holster. He took a few steps forward, his hands finding themselves in his pockets, the three of them walking out of the now lightening alleyway as the Dark Hour ceased.

* * *

Izanagi proved to be a significant asset to the team, especially since she was able to sense and scale Shadow's relative power range which only grew as SEES continued to venture higher up the endless labyrinth that was known as Tartarus. It became difficult to intertwine both their activities in the Dark Hour and school, although Rena and Aisha were the only ones that were particularly worried of the latter. If anything seemed to compensate for this, it was the fact that summer was quickly approaching and Rena told them that she had a special surprise for them once it commenced. The clatter of a seemingly distant bell rang endlessly, resonating a low pitch in Elsword's ears, the sound almost seeming like it was from a different world, his mind preoccupied with his own thoughts and misgivings of the past few weeks.

"Elbaka! Hey, dummy, can you hear me!? Class is already over so you can stop spacing out," an aggravated voice bellowed, the slow swaying of purple pigtails in front of Elsword snapping him out of his daze. A scowl was plastered across the girl's face, her violet irises beading into the male's crimson ones as he let out a toothy yawn, now sitting up in a straight wards position. The boy's hair was ruffled and atrocious, his shirt neatly wrinkled, tiny sand particles sketched around his eyelids. While he was comparable to a bald hobo, Mario was able to relate, sharing the same sort of wardrobe malfunctions as Elsword.

"…What? Oh, happy afternoon. Class was boring," Elsword stated back simply, a look of pure boredom and laziness enveloping his face. Eyes drooping slightly, he lowered both of his hands onto the smooth maple surface of his desk and levitated himself into a standing position. Twisting around his chair, he kicked his foot up, catching the strap of his backpack and hoisted it up to his open palm.

Exasperation soon crossed Aisha's face as she rolled her eyes, a loud sigh escaping from her parted lips. Placing one foot behind the other, she intertwined her fingers together, clasping them tightly. "You're hopeless. Just because you're tired doesn't mean you can just goof off in class! You're going to graduate sooner or later!" she continued the mini-pep lecture, trying to stray the average teen from the path of darkness.

"Stop bothering the man. If worse comes to worse, we'll fail together! It doesn't matter since a lot of students at this school have to repeat a year because of some sort of strange circumstance or something along those lines," Mario intervened in the conversation. Glasses hung crookedly on his face as he stalked over to the two of them from the other side of the classroom, every step a slow one, almost as if he was caught in a slow motion loop.

"Eh…I don't think I'll fail. I've been doing average even without studying. If anything, you'll be the only one to fail, Mr. Crybaby," Elsword spoke, his voice calm, a simple uncaring and carefree attitude laced into her underlying personality as the three of them discussed how their futures would play out.

"What!? You're already giving up on me!? Oh man…" Mario complained. Taking off his glasses in one swoop, he immediately proceeded to slam his face into a nearby desk, his forehead and cheeks now glowing a little red before he calmly pushed his glasses back into position. "Very well. Challenge accepted."

"I rest my case," Aisha concluded as she pushed her shoulders up a little, shrugging glumly. Inhaling, she rose her arms above her head, standing on her tippy toes as she stretched her body. "Rena told me that there's something we have to talk about back at the dorm, so we should get back as soon as possible."

The crimson-haired males moved his now closed palm closer to his shoulder, holding his backpack in a more comfortable and secure hold as he whisked around to face Aisha once more. "Another meeting? Why do we have so many meetings? It's a waste of time. It'll be easier if she just told you what's going on and you retailed the information to the rest of us," Elsword retorted.

"Nah, that's too simple. You should know that Rena likes to do things in the most complicated ways. There was this one time that my dorm room was dirty and she called the police-"Mario faltered when the door to the classroom slid open, a flash of ivory green hair emit before a pale girl stood in front of them, a feverish smile on Rena's face as she somewhat teleported across the entire room with inhumane speed.

"Hello everyone! Everyone is at the dorm already, so I came here to pick you three up. It's rather late after all~" Rena said cheerfully, although her face and mouth twitched slightly. Her hands shot out, now grabbing both Elsword and Mario by the collar of their shirts as she proceeded to drag them out of the classroom. "Follow along Aisha~" she added.

Aisha stifled a fit of laughter, her hand pressed tightly against the corners of her dancing lips. Nodding her head, she followed the dragged Elsword and Mario out of the classroom, humming a small melodious tune to herself as she twirled around once, closing the sliding door behind them in one swoop as they left for the dorm.

* * *

A low scowl tugged at the corners of Elsword's mouth, the look a mixture of a grimace and an average pout. Seated around him were the other members of SEES, the seven of them hung around the Command Room. Lowe sat in the front, his legs appropriately crossed against each other, then followed by Rena and Raven on the velvet couches while Mario, Aisha, and Elsword sat on the other. Izanagi sat on a separate armrest chair piece. The jagged and almost silent beeps of the tracking super computer broke the silence among them, similar to an old ticking clock. Placing his hands onto the back of his head, the red-headed male glared at Lowe. "So, why are we here…? I was doing something rather important." Elsword exclaimed.

Izanagi held a blank expression on her face, her arms crossed tightly against her chest. Crimson hair flowed from the top of her head, reaching to the small of her back, as she slowly tilted her head to the side. "Important? You? Doing something important? I don't find that believable. You were probably taking a nap or something like the useless sack you are," the girl snapped at him, her tone and words indicating that she was basking in an aura of false superiority.

"Now, now, he does his work well. I have two matters to discuss with you today. The first is that we have a new member that will be joining us today. Her name is Beth Chaos Warren. She does in fact attend Gekkoukan High School, but is a sophomore. She should be joining us shortly," Lowe announced.

"Beth Chaos Warren…? Oh, I know who she is. I've seen her around the library and she visits the Student Council occasionally," Aisha stated, but more to herself than the others, her voice barely audible as she spoke. She sat in between Elsword and Mario, her clasped hands serving as the resting point for her head, her purple pigtails hanging off loosely.

"Yes, she's a reputable student, although I've heard some rumors of her being very antisocial. But, the good news is that we get a new member~" Rena spoke happily again, her evergreen eyes half-lidded as she continued her almost constant and never-ending smile.

"Antisocial? Why can't we get someone with potential that's nice, kind, and comical like me?" Mario huffed out, a saddening look on his face. Without meaning to, his eyes glared at Izanagi, a pout-like frown stretching his face into an upside down smile.

Izanagi raised her eyebrows, her maroon eyes glaring back at Mario. She crossed her legs in an act of defiance, a hiss-like noise emitting from the petite girl's mouth. "Do you have a problem with me? Because if you do, I'd love to beat you to a bloody pulp," she snapped at Mario.

Mario instinctively held up both of his hands, flailing them around somewhat, shaking his head at an inhumane speed. "No, no, no, no, no! You've got it all wrong! I think you're awesome and…"he faltered, not knowing what else to say in the current predicament he was now in. He slowly turned his head to Elsword, a pleading look cast into his eyes. "Pst. Help me," he whispered to the crimson haired male.

Elsword shrugged lightly, actually wanting to see Izanagi beat Mario to a bloody pulp. "Nah, I'm good. But, you should do fine. Just compliment her more," he said to the other male, giving him a thumbs up with a grin before looking back blankly at Lowe.

"That's not going to work!" Mario retorted, now flailing around all over the place. Luckily for him, he was saved by the sound of talking behind the gigantic wooden doors of the Command Room. It belonged to a girl's and since everyone was already here, it was safe to assume it was Beth.

The voice was very quiet and light, a quiet whisper to herself. "Hello, my name is Beth Chaos Warren. I am fifteen years old and I'm a sophomore. It's nice to meet you all and I hope we can get along," Beth stated, as if she was practicing what she would say to us before she even stepped through the door. Lightly tapping the wooden doors with the tip of her knuckles, she cleared her throat before entering the Command Room. Beth was a short girl and like Izanagi, had a stoic and blank face. Her hair fell to the middle of her neck, although it was peculiar in a sense that the left side of her hair was undercut and black while the rest of her hair was neon pink. A tight bandage was wrapped around her right eye and her left eye was a normal hazel color. She wore combat boots and a classic Jersey sweater, followed by a pair of shorts that reached down to her thighs and candy cane striped knee-socks. Beth slowly dipped her head forward, flashing a feverish and awkward smile before reverting back to blank face. "H-hello. My name is Beth Chaos Warren. I am fifteen years old and I'm a sophomore. It's nice to meet you all and I hope we can get along," she repeated what she said outside the door, her voice quiet, hushed to a low whisper as she continued to stare at the carpeted floor.

A moment passed before anyone reacted to Beth's tiny speech. Lowe was the first to speak to the new member of SEES. "I would like to thank you for accepting my offer to join us. I express my gratitude to you and I hope you can get along with everyone else. As for everyone else, I know you will want to speak and introduce yourselves to Beth, but for now remain seated. I would like to share my recent breakthrough with my research."

Beth blinked, before nodding again and slowly trudged over to one of the velvet couches. Taking a seat next to Raven, she twiddled her thumbs together, still glancing down at the floor. The situation she was in just felt awkward and forced being that she knew no one in this room other than Rena, Aisha, and Lowe, but even those relationships were odd and strange. Still pokerfaced, she raised her head, now looking at Lowe along with everyone else in the room.

"My research concerns the Shadows that we've seen during the full moon and it is truly fascinating! Each one can be divided into categories, according to their characteristics. In a way, it's like their class or order. The four Shadows we've seen thus far belong to Categories I through IV, in order of their appearance. While they look different from normal Shadows, the classification scheme still applies," Lowe started, a somewhat creepy determined glow sparkling in his dull stormy eyes.

"And…? What does that have to do with anything?" Aisha questioned, an avid blandness in her voice, sparked with a speck of boredom through the small lecture of Shadow101.

"Hmm. I think I get it. There are 12 categories of these Shadows. So far, you idiots have dealt with four. That means we have to beat another eight before this entire thing is over. But, that doesn't include Tartarus, so that will be a hassle too," Izanagi explained, a small hushed sigh of exasperation separating her sentences. Her crimson eyes were half-lidded, her head placed lazily on the palm of her hand as she slowly swayed her body from side to side.

"That is very perspective of you, Izanagi. Although, you are the only one that can sense and categorize these Shadows, so it is not surprising. The only thing we have not figured out is their motive. Remember, they don't kill their prey. Shadows feed on the mind, turning it into a mash of jelly. They increase their numbers this way. This could be considered predation, but is it? Could the Shadows have some underlying behavior behind their actions? Is there a reason why they feed on humans? We must consider the purpose of the Shadows as a whole and find out their motive while we deal with the conflict of the big Shadows and Tartarus," Lowe added, concluding his speech. The olden man stood up, his silver-gray hair glistening lightly with the intrusion of light around it, the rays of sunlight fusing themselves in the small strand-like lines adorn on his head. "That will conclude this meeting. I'll be taking my leave now. You guys should get to know the new member and introduce yourselves. It's better to do that now than doing it on the battlefield." And with that, Lowe briskly walked across the room from his now dented antique couch, a small lump in the middle of the furniture as the large maple door closed behind the Chairman.

As soon as the door closed, all eyes now shifted to the bandage-wearing, multi-colored hair girl now shifting uncomfortably in between Raven and Rena, her single revealed eye shifting around in her socket, not even glancing at the other members of SEES. The almost silent tick-tock of a grandfather's clock adjacent to the gigantic monitor made the quiet situation a strange one, no one wanting to be the first to introduce themselves to the new girl.

Clearing his throat, Mario rose from his seat, clapping his hands roughly together. The sudden sound startled the people sitting in the Command Room, everyone jumping up in surprise apart from Beth and Izanagi, both who held very stoic and expressionless faces, almost as if the two had a silent telepathic bond that were mentally cursing each other for joining such an assorted and diverse team of morons.

"He-oh. I am Mario and I'm the leader of this team. It's nice to meet you Beth!" the glasses-wearing male proclaimed, a sly yet genuine grin etched across his face, if that was even possible, but he held out a single hand to Beth, assuming that he would get a handshake.

Beth stared blankly at the hand, her whole head tilted to the side in confusion. She had never been greeted with a handshake, but that was due to her being the quiet introvert in the back of the classroom. She did not talk to anyone and she kept to herself. If anyone tried talking to her, she would bluntly shut them out or in some cases, injure them to a point where if she looked at them, that student would then proceed to curl up into a small ball in the corner of shame and cry out-loud to themselves. That happened at least two times, making her entire stay at that middle school a terribly awkward one.

A hardcover rim of a paperback book abruptly slammed itself into Mario's nose, the "leader's" glasses rolling of his face and skidding across the carpeted floor and underneath a couch. Purple pig-tails dropped from side to side as Aisha gently shook her head, a single nervous laugh emitting from her parted lips as she launched Mario across the room in pursuit of his own glasses. "Sorry about that…He's an idiot…Anyways, I'm Aisha! I hope we can get along," the purple-haired teen exclaimed, her violet irises locked with Beth's chocolate one.

Raven scratched his head, his fingertips gliding across his scalp as the shaded male trudged over to help the seemingly blind Mario find his glasses. "I am Raven. Pleasure to meet you," he introduced himself, kneeling beside the younger boy, who was flailing his arms at random, attacking the couch with his hands, unable to distinguish the carpet from the couch to the giant monitor that screeched random beeping sounds at Mario.

"Hehe~ I'm Rena! I think I've seen you around before at the Student Council Office~ It's great that we finally are able to introduce ourselves~" Rena shouted rather happily, her evergreen hair and eyes matching her distinctive choice of clothing as she gently poked the side of Beth's head.

Izanagi rolled her eyes, not even moving from her seat, still locked in the same position she was for the entire meeting. "You're really anti-social, aren't you? Just another idiot that I'll have to deal with, but at least you're better than Mario, so welcome aboard. Don't get in my way and we'll be friends. Izanagi," the velvety-haired girl stated.

Beth nodded, a blank expression still marked across her features. Her single chocolate eye stared at the multiple people around her as she quietly mouthed hushed words to herself. "Yes…It's good to meet you all. The same applies to you though, so please don't get in my way."

"See, that wasn't too hard now, was it? But, I'm a bit worried that we got another Izanagi here, just a bit quieter. I don't think I can bribe her with ice cream or coffee either," the red-haired male now spoke, finally engaging in the conversation. He had watched and listened to the entire monologue by Lowe and the entire scenario of introductions, keeping to himself since he didn't find the need to intervene.

Elsword, hands placed evenly on the top of his head, stopped directly in front of Beth, a small smirk on his face. "I am the actually leader of SEES, in terms of combat at the very least. I am Elsword and…welcome to the group."

"I found my glasses!" Mario proclaimed after a good minute or so, crooked glasses plastered back onto his face. Achievement was clear in his smug face, almost as if he had somehow won the entire world just by finding his glasses.

"Rejected," Izanagi intruded. Materializing next to Mario, her pale fingers wrapped themselves around the crook of the glasses, now tossing the dense material underneath the giant monitor behind her. The crimson-haired girl proceeded to swirl away, circling around Mario, almost as if she was dancing around him before she seated herself back onto her previous seating arrangement.

"Why!? Why would you do that!?" Mario bellowed at Izanagi, throwing his arms around aimlessly as he could no longer see again. The black-haired student collided into the grandfather clock, the human and inanimate object falling flat onto the floor, a cloud of dust now emitting from the contact between the two.

"Well. That was anti-climatic. Anyways, you'll get used to us eventually. Just hang tight," Elsword continued, completely uncaring of Mario's current predicament as were the rest of the SEES members as they started to leave the Command Room, now that introductions were out of the way. The crimson-haired male turned around, ready to leave the room, his hand placed against the golden handle of the door.

"…Thank you, but don't be nice to me. I may be calm now, but that'll change soon…" Beth trailed off, sounding very monotone and almost robotic now.

"It wouldn't hurt to try. Go rest or something. It's been a long day," Elsword replied. Dipping his head in the formation of a good-bye, he left the Command Room, trailing down the staircase, across the narrow hallway, and into his messy room.

Beth sat there, chocolate eye blinking slowly as she rose to her feet. Her pale and petite fingers slid off the white bandage wrapped around her eye, her snow-colored pupil glowing slightly as she took in the entirety of her surroundings before she draped the cloth back onto her eye. Nodding to herself, she turned around and walked out of the room, her hands and legs in perfect synchronization, rolling all of her limbs back and forth in perfect harmony, the only sound left in the Command Room was Mario's pitiful exclamations for help as the lights slowly dimmed down into nothingness.

* * *

It had been an hour or so after the events in the Command Room. The smoke of freshly cooked ramen slithered across the tiled ceiling and floor, weaving into the small cracks that had been formed from the endless withering away of the now old yet reputable restaurant. Hagakure's Bowl was filled with people, from the littlest of children to the eldest of man, the pitch of laughter and chatter endless.

Cerulean eyes stared blankly at a bowl of half-eaten ramen, his long blonde-hair flowing to the small of his back. Chung wore a brown trench coat and long beaten-down jeans, a feminine aspect intertwined with his masculine features. The ring of a shaking bell above the glass panel door drew Chung's cold eyes to the entrance, an un-amused expression on his face as a familiar male took a seat next to him.

Slightly brown hands traced across the countertop, his yellowish eyes staring at the waiter on the opposite side. "I'll have what he's having," Raven exclaimed, pointing to Chung and his bowl of ramen. The black-haired male scratched his head once, glancing at his friend as the waiter jotted down his order on a notepad and took off, disappearing from view as they ran through the door. "How can you eat that all the time? Don't you get sick of it?" Raven questioned Chung.

Chung shrugged his shoulders, laying his damp chopsticks on the top of his bowl, forming a bridge from tip to tip of the plate. "Shut up. It doesn't matter what I eat. You always have that protein shake thing before you work out, right? There's no difference here," he retorted.

A bowl of steaming ramen skidded across the countertop and into Raven's outstretched hands. Diced vegetables and small squares of tofu swam inside the orange soup; the smell was enough to make his mouth water slightly. "Still haven't made your mind?" Raven asked, suspending a noodle above his open mouth before dropping it in, chewing lightly on the soft food.

"Is that what this is about?" Chung asked, his voice now hushed to a whisper, still rough yet a bit sadder now. His fists clenching tightly together, becoming a tad whiter from the amount of force he was using.

Raven swallowed, the food visible in his throat, small lumps sliding down his trachea. "We've got five new members. Things have changed now. We're more aggressive and we know what we're doing now."

Chung let out a gentle laugh, tipping his head backwards, his ocean-colored eyes staring blankly at the ceiling now. "Do you honestly think I'll rejoin just because you have more members now? Just because you're more aggressive now? I'm not interested," he replied.

Raven lowered his head, now eyes flashing with sincerity yet a rigid seriousness. He shifted in his seat, now facing the other male completely. "Chung. Think about it. Don't let your power go to waste. You can help us," the black-haired male argued.

"My power isn't worth anything. Nothing you say will make me change my mind. I'm not going back," Chung spoke calmly, his hands finding their way into the pockets of his trench coat, his foot now stepping impatiently against the tiled floor.

"What's done is done. You have to move on. You can't change the past, but you can change the future. You can help us," Raven pressed on.

Chung shook his head once more, now rising from his seat. He placed a very small wad of Yen onto the countertop, a sneer on his face as he slowly made his way to the door. "Hmph. You should talk. Face it, Raven," he started, glancing back at Raven as he finished his sentence, exiting the restaurant as he did so. "You're no different from me."

* * *

Midnight. Bored garnet eyes gazed from every nick and cranny embodied in the ceiling above him. His back was pressed against the soft surface of a mattress, messy red hair impaling a cushiony pillow underneath his head. A thin layer of blanket offered him warmth, all colors of the rainbow now gone apart from the now eerie greenness that consumed everyone. Elsword was waiting for someone in particular, now that the next full moon was tomorrow.

Dozens of tiny glass-like particles amassed together, a swirl of light blue and a tint of yellow new in the green environment. A silhouette of blackness sat at the very edge of Elsword's bed, the thin outline of legs now kicking lightly in a forward and backward motion. The blackness was soon replaced by a familiar white and black stripe pattern, calm and friendly blue eyes now staring into crimson ones. A small genuine smile tugged at the corners of Pharos's lips, his head cocked to the side as if he was gesturing a silent yet open question to the Wild Card User. "Hi. How are you?" the light-skinned boy asked, sincerity now mixed into his once blank tone.

"You're a little late, jail-suit boy. But, it's been a good month so far. Someone just joined the group today and while they seem like another Izanagi, it is good to know that we're gaining strength and what not. So, I couldn't ask for anything more," Elsword replied bluntly, summarizing how he generally felt for the past month. The junior didn't know if Pharos stalked him into the day or not or if he was only able to only see him during the Dark Hour. Besides, the last month was just a rinse and repeat of Tartarus, beating Mario up, trying to make Izanagi more friendly, cope up with Aisha's bickering of grades, Raven's constant need to train, Rena's burst of happiness and joy all the time, and the general annoyance and boredom of school.

Pharos tapped the tip of his almost nonexistence nose, the pale boy stepping off the bed as he started to walk around the room, his hands clasped together. "That's good to hear. Having more people will prepare you for the obstacles that are still in your way. You still have many more to go through and each one will be more difficult than the last. On that note…Can you guess what I'm going to tell you?"

Elsword rolled his maroon eyes, not even bothering to sit up now. The two had somehow formed a bond, although he wasn't sure how that was entirely possible since he only saw Pharos rarely and all they did was talk about what would try to kill him next. "Yeah, I think I can. Some big Shadow thing is going to try to kill me and my friends tomorrow, right? Got it covered, bro," the male exclaimed, a pure mixture of contempt and sarcasm in his last statement.

"Bro? I don't think that term fits me very well. No term you have in your dictionary would fit me, but I guess you're used to my warnings now. Be careful, okay? I'll come again," Pharos dismissed, his entire appearance shifting into a single vanishing image, a swirl of colors mashing together into the dissipation of a single blue butterfly that slowly burnt to a crisp, the ashes descending slowly before vanishing completely.

"No term would fit you, huh? Things just keep getting weirder and weirder each time you visit…" Elsword trailed off, tanned eyelids now rolling over his dimmed eyes. Shifting to the left, the male cuddled his cushiony pillow, entering his imaginary dream world full of endless bliss in a matter of seconds.

* * *

July 7th, 2010. The world was held in a suspended silence as the Dark Hour consumed Iwatodai. The rustle of flaky and scathed leaves remained motionless in the air; a cool breeze paused in the middle of its daily routine. Miniature droplets of icy cold water lay suspended at the curve of a metal pipe attached to the tile roofs of each and every individual house and lodging. A thin fog swept into the now quiet city, imitating a small stalker cat as if it was chasing a small mouse. All forms of transportation did nothing, deemed worthless as all electricity was cut off during the special time period hidden from one day to the next. A unique group of high-school teenagers remained active during this time, standing around a particular crimson-haired girl, all of them in the Command Room of a particular dorm, the full moon smirking at them from above.

A grimace marked Raven's face, a scowl resulting from his earlier confrontation with Chung. Arms crossed tightly against his broad chest, the tanned male narrowed his golden eyes at the now concentrating Izanagi, a huff of impatience blowing out of his mouth. "Any luck…?" he asked.

Izanagi held the cylinder point of the Evoker to her temple, but was already in her Imperial form. Velvety eyes flashed a darker shade of red, a small wisp of blue aura enveloping the girl as she attempted to pinpoint the Shadow's location. "Shut your yapping and let me concentrate…I found it. It's a powerful presence and it's not in Tartarus. It should prove to be entertaining. I can at least watch you guys get kicked around a bit before I demolish it myself," the girl exclaimed, lowering the gun-shaped object to her side.

"So, we were right!" Mario exclaimed with triumph, raising his arms upwards in the formation of some sort of gesture or salute to accommodate his doing nothing in this scenario. His glasses were now chipped and _slightly _broken from the amount of abuse they had taken yesterday.

Wearing his classic brown-colored attire, the suit-wearing olden man known as Lowe agreed with the nod of his head, the crazy glint of fascination still emit in his gray-eyes. "So it seems! This proves all my research is correct! We can now advance and research the purpose of Tartarus now that we know when these Shadows appear. Izanagi, where is it?" Lowe inquired.

"It's located in Iwatodai of course. The Shadow seems to be in some building on Shirakawa Boulevard. I have no idea where that is though. What a pain…" Izanagi responded. The girl ran her pale fingers through her crimson strands of hair, adjusting it to the small of back, shaking her head lightly to get it into its proper position. "Why the hell does this thing have to be out of Tartarus anyways?" she muttered to herself.

Lowe scratched his head, pondering a mute thought to himself. "The news and reports have been revealing that they had been finding the Lost in pairs lately, those who are affected by the Apathy Syndrome. I think I understand why now since this problem only popped up a few weeks ago and that was after the two Shadows we defeated at Tartarus's main hall."

Aisha piped up now, the purple-haired teen staring at Lowe with a combined look of confusion and interest, her violet irises glancing off her textbook as she directed her inquiry to the Chairman. "Why? Is there something wrong with Shirakawa Boulevard? I've never been there before or anything, so I don't know the area around there."

"Shirakawa Boulevard…? Oh, that's where those types of hotels are…You must have heard of them, Aisha. It's well…you know…where people go to…get their relationship to the next level…" Mario trailed off, his voice hushed to a low whisper as he tried to explain the type of buildings in that area. He shuffled from foot to foot, step-siding to the left and right as he basically hopped from foot to foot, his entire array of movements awkward.

At the very description of the love hotel, a thick blossomy-peach shade seeped into Aisha's cheeks, her mouth slightly gaping as she realized what Mario was trying to say. "W-wha…E-eh!? S-stop making stuff up!" the adolescent girl stuttered, obviously flustered as the thought of entering such a place with the other members of SEES.

"Nonsense. The rooms are just a bit fancier, that's all. Don't jump to conclusions now," Lowe reassured them, letting out a nervous laugh, obviously not expecting Mario to have brought that up. The Chairman lowered himself onto the single armchair in the room, propping both of his elbows and arms onto the rest area.

"Aww…That's it? That's boring," Mario retorted, an overwhelming wave of disappointment clear in his voice. He traced his fingers through his black hair, a small pouting-frown replacing his earlier smirk.

Beth stood there, silent and motionless, uncaring of the situation as usual. She and Izanagi stood side-by-side, stoic-faced as they both stared blankly at Mario, a single thought trailing through both of their minds. In the next moment or so, Beth and Izanagi simultaneously launched Mario into the grandfather clock with a single well-timed and correlated roundhouse kick to the stomach.

"Oof…Why is it always me…?" Mario groaned out from underneath the clock, but he managed to pull himself out from under it. Patting his hands down over his body, he dusted himself off, keeping silent now.

"O-okay…Who is going to take lead now?" Aisha asked, regaining her composure after seeing Mario being abused and beaten fairly to compensate for her earlier embarrassment. The purple-haired female clasped her hands together behind her back, rocking back and forth in a swaying motion.

Rena answered that question, speaking for the first time since they had arrived to the Command Room. "Well, I don't see why we have to change leaders now~ Elsword will take command as usual," the ivory-haired girl replied cheerfully, smiling lightly at the group of people around her.

Elsword stretched out his arms, leaning up entirely as he let out a low-pitched yawn. Crimson eyes grew wider as he placed his hands onto the back of his head, lazily trudging to the center of the room. "Sure, I'll take lead again. This will probably be another easy battle anyways."

Izanagi rolled her eyes, shaking her head at the mere thought of Elsword being leader. "Like I said before, I don't need anyone else's help. I can deal with this Shadow by myself," she spoke bluntly and crudely, an almost arrogant and prideful atmosphere around her. Performing a 360, she trudged out of the room, now heading over to Shirakawa Boulevard.

One chocolate eye dimmed itself, Beth watching Izanagi leave the room in an instant. She did not want to be left behind, especially in something like this. She wanted to be on the top and prove, like Izanagi, that she could deal with the Shadow by herself. Without even uttering a single word to the members of SEES before her, the multi-colored haired girl broke off into a run, following Izanagi's example.

"Like I said, we got two Izanagi's now. Anyways, we should probably get over there before they get injured or anything. According to Lowe, the Shadows have gotten stronger in each of their appearances and even if we all did get stronger as well, a one on one fight would be insane," Elsword reasoned. Cranking his neck around, he lowered one hand, signaling that the operation was now commenced.

* * *

As Raven, Rena, Elsword, Mario, and Aisha followed after the two competitive female Users, a large-nosed man sat calmly on a velvety chair, a blonde-haired girl next to him.

Igor waved his hand over, a total of 12 cards shifting around his head. A small fluttering portal lay on the table in front of the Resident of the Velvet Room, portraying the events from Elsword's point of view. A single chuckle escaped from his open mouth, a single card dancing around on his fingertip, a clear "V" etched into the middle of the card. "May the heart of the cards guide you, my boy. Your hardships are only just beginning."

* * *

Haha, haha, kill me now. It's been at least a month since I last updated, but here's chapter 7. Yay! Sorry for the wait guys, if any of you even remember this story, but I've been busy with school and all of that stuff, so…That sums up the absence. I'm currently making a schedule so that I can have time to work on this story and release chapters in an orderly fashion, but knowing how I said that last time and that didn't happen…Don't expect it to happen. I'll say there's a 25% chance of it happening and that's rather slim. So, yeah. Replies to reviews now… xD

CrimsonBloodReaper – Well, four characters were introduced this chapter, so…I hope that worked for the schedule so far. xD Thanks for the comment as usual, my friend!

The Cynical Asian – Yes, Izanagi is very scary. Fear her. She is the tsundere of the group. She will take your cookies, ice cream, and coffee. Pharos is an interesting guy, no doubt about that. But, what is he hiding exactly? =D

RubyCrucifix – Haha, no problem. I was a little worried that I may have messed her up a little and what not, but do correct me if I did such a thing. And well, still not dead. I hope. xD

SerenityofStars – Well, I did not update soon, but at least I updated. Working on my schedule now, so yeah… xD

destroyerdestroyerdestroyer – Of course. But, if you think this is intense, then I'm afraid the later chapters will be too much for you. xD Character deaths? Never heard of them. It may happen. It may not. Who knows? And, your OC is now here.

Light15XV – Um….Your OC will be one of the last ones to appear because you were one of the last ones to sign-up and you were the only one who had a character that would fit the role.

Not-Alone-Anymore – Torturing everything is fun, like how I had a month long wait here, although I doubt anyone cared. xD And yeah, they're really similar, but I just made Beth more of an introvert and less sociable while Izanagi insults everyone. Trying to work on the work exhaustion issue too. xD

Shikuna – Nah. Never. Pharos is a cool stalker kid. And, both. It is very late, but you can have another dragon. –gives dragon-

G123u – Still not dead and Eve still hadn't killed me. xD Thanks for the comment as usual and I am too lazy to go and find that and fix it, so yeah! xD Elsword will spam that ability, no doubt about it. Maya will probably never show up again. xD

Lili The Amazing Clutz – A new reviewer! Hello! Thanks for the comment! xD


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